


Black and Blue

by genuinewarmblood



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Ableism, Agender Character, Alien Biology, Alien Gender/Sexuality, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, Amputee, Anesthesia, Canon-Typical Cannibalism, Canon-Typical Violence, Cliffhangers, Dehumanization, Disney Movies, Dissociation, Dreams, Dreamsharing, Electrocution, Fainting, Fushion, Gen, Headaches & Migraines, Indirect Mentions of Animal Death, Inspired by Art, M/M, Medical Procedures, Mental Health Issues, Miscommunication, Needles, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Non-Graphic Torture, Non-Graphic Violence, Non-consensual sedation, Nutrition, Recovery, Resolved Cliffhangers, Starvation, Swearing, Telepathy, Temporary Amnesia, Torture, Venom AU, non-graphic cannibalism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2020-10-25 19:56:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 30,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20729903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genuinewarmblood/pseuds/genuinewarmblood
Summary: “Every animal and human that bonded with these organisms died, and the Life Foundation was idiotic enough to let some of the aliens die. This is the last surviving alien organism, and I'd prefer to start my own research with expendable resources. After Hydra sees what this organism can do to the failed asset, we will be unstoppable.”What if Hydra got ahold of a certain black and white symbiote?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovely readers! I started this work a while ago, when art for the Cap RBB came out. I was inspired by the art of SaffyTaffy6 (twitter username). My fic is not related to the RBB fic.  
I want to preface the fic with a note about the rating and tags. This fic is pretty tame except for the typical violence seen in the Venom movies and the MCU in general. If you think the rating should be upped or another tag should be added, don’t hesitate to message me (discord: genuinewarmblood#7641). I tried to catch everything, but I am as fallible as any human. I hope you enjoy the ride!

"I don't understand why we even bothered to purchase this company. Hydra is completing its own space exploration programs within the US and the Soviet Union. What could we possibly need from the defunct Life Foundation?"

"The Life Foundation completed deep space missions before the Americans or the Soviets. I suppose our superiors were hoping to figure out how they completed those missions. Besides, it's not our place to question Hydra's motives anyway. Finish cataloging the experimental program, so we can stay on schedule."

"Wait, what's this file? 'Alien organism experimentation'? Did you ever hear of the Life Foundation discovering aliens?"

"Let me see that…," the man skims the file for a few seconds, “Incredible. Apparently, they discovered more than asteroid compositions. Send this file and any associated cargo to the deep space science division immediately."

* * *

A man in a long white lab coat, holding a manila file folder, approaches a sealed oil drum in a mostly empty storage room. Two security guards in military-style gear accompany him.

"I want this drum sent to level 18. Whatever the Life Foundation was doing with these creatures, they failed to gather much data. Hydra has slightly hardier subjects to test. The file states that the alien organisms require a host to survive in the Earth's atmosphere. When the creatures bonded with animals, they could give the beasts super strength and enhanced abilities. Hydra already has a slightly more-than-human host available. Perhaps we can finally fix Arnim Zola's failed experiment and create Hydra's greatest asset.”

"Zola's pet? We're going to try that? He's always been unstable. I'm not sure if making him stronger is a good idea," one of the guards grumbles.

"Every animal and human that bonded with these organisms died, and the Life Foundation was idiotic enough to let some aliens die. This is the last surviving alien organism, and I'd prefer to start my own research with expendable resources. After Hydra sees what this organism can do to the failed asset, perhaps I will be allowed to try more subjects," lab coat replies as the guards begin to roll the drum towards a service elevator. No one seems to notice the creaking and soft thumps from inside the drum. The drum has a few notches bowing outwards, but it appears intact. The long concrete hallway out of the storage room is empty except for the trio.

"All right. Everything should be set up by 1400. Just make sure you seal the whole area. I don't want to give up many upper level guards for your little experiment."

"Fine."

* * *

_ James Buchanan Barnes. 32557038. James Buchanan Barnes. 32557038. _

"This experiment will either be a roaring success or will finally rid us of Zola's expensive prisoner."

Two scientists stand outside an exam room. The room has glass on three sides and shows another man, emaciated and naked, strapped to a table. Metal cuffs hold the prisoner’s wrists and ankles to the table, while thick fabric straps hold his calves, thighs, hips, and chest to the barely cushioned surface. The sound of the scientists pulled the prisoner from unconsciousness.

"Arnim Zola's grudge has cost Hydra enough resources. Sure, his faulty serum saved the life of Captain America's right-hand man, but the serum has done nothing else besides keep him alive. No super strength, no tactical abilities to match the mighty Steve Rogers. The serum still leaves our greatest investment without an arm! I'm sure at this point, it would be a mercy to finally kill it. Still, I would like to learn something valuable about these aliens so that Hydra will approve more testing."

_ James Buchanan Barnes. 32557038. James Buchanan Barnes. 32557038. Fuck, I have a horrible headache. _

The exhausted prisoner passes out again before he can hear the rest of the discussion.


	2. Chapter One

A bang and screeching sound wakes James again. A hissing of air depressurizing follows the screech of a door opening.

_ Oh God, what is Hydra doing now? _

He cranes his head up from his restrained position to watch two guards in bright yellow hazmat suits roll a large drum into the examination room. He may not know where he is, but James will always recognize an experimentation room from how many times he's regained consciousness in them.

The guards place the drum halfway between the end of the table and the door. They quickly leave the way they came without addressing James at all.

_ At least I woke up remembering my name this time. It's always worse when Hydra makes me forget shit. And, I'm not even bleeding yet. So far, so good. _

James wearily thumps his head back onto the table. He's not strong enough to keep his head up very long, and he suspects he’ll need his strength to keep track of whatever the Hydra scientists are planning to do to him.

He hears a smaller hiss and snaps his head up again all too quickly to watch the drum. A small box on the top is a motorized hinge that is slowly opening the drum. Before the motor stops whirring, a black tendril climbs over the edge. It slithers out of the drum and onto the floor. It seems to curiously move around for a few seconds before it notices James on the table. 

_ Is that slime conscious? _

It moves forward across the floor with purpose now. James feels the first tendril, cool and wet on his skin as it begins to climb over his body. He starts to test the straps and struggle on the table. No matter how many times Hydra destroys his body, James will continue to fight and to preserve his spirit as long as possible.

_ What the fuck has Hydra found now? Why am I stuck with this slime thing in the room? _

The slime continues to climb James's body, sticky and slow. It comes close to James's neck. 

_ This is it. I finally get to die. Hydra is finally going to kill me with sentient slime mold. I'm going to suffocate strapped to a table. _

James looks down his body, notices faintly that he's naked, and watches the slime writhe and wrap around his limbs. Then it begins to fade and lose thickness. The deep black fades to a sickly gray until a fine film is left were thick tentacles were wrapped around his thighs and torso. All the slime over his body fades and seems to disappear. Not even any residue is left from the wet texture of it. Bucky looks around frantically. 

_ It couldn't have just disappeared. Hydra's experiments are much more deadly than this. And much more painful. _

The slime was only somewhat uncomfortable. But, now it's gone, and Bucky sets his head back on the exam table. He's utterly exhausted now. He's always exhausted. Hydra has forced him to stay awake through many procedures for days and what feels like years. 

_ I'll never catch up on the sleep I've lost. _

Since the excitement seems to be over, Bucky sees no point in staying awake when he could use this precious time to rest. He closes his eyes again and falls asleep. For the first time in years, he sleeps without a nightmare.

James wakes later in a different cement cell. Glass surrounds him on all four sides. The glass is thick and probably bulletproof. He's on a cot now and no longer strapped to anything. He glances around a bit, without lifting his head too much, and notices a steel toilet across from him first. There's also a small basin for washing up, but no soap is visible in the cell. He sits up unsteadily and looks around more. There's nothing else in the cell, but these accommodations are already so much better than the empty rooms Hydra usually puts him in. 

_ Something's wrong. Hydra has never treated me this well after an experiment. They've never had such painless experiments either. _

He investigates more of the area and sees a tech taking notes on a clipboard behind him. He stares daringly at the tech, who looks up from his writing and spooks at the sight of James's consciousness. The tech rights his glasses and rushes off, out of James's line of sight. James doubts the scientists have actually stopped watching him, but at least he can pretend he's not being watched now. He finally gets out of the cot and goes to the wash basin for water. He's surprised to find it actually works. After he drinks a few handfuls of water, James wearily places his hands on each side of the basin. He wobbles back to the bed, quickly exhausted again. As he collapses back onto the cot, the minimal padding and the light sheet comfort him.

_ I don't think Hydra has ever given me a bed before. _


	3. Chapter Two

James wakes again and finally thinks he's up for good. He actually feels great. He practically feels no pain. Only his phantom limb pain that makes his shoulder tense up and ache is all that remains. He stares at the pale white ceiling in the little observation cell and then glances over at the glass next to his bed. His reflection stares grimly back at him, and deep black bags make his eyes look sunken. This set of Hydra scientists shave his head regularly. He was disgusting when they let his hair grow long, oily, and tangled. Now it's neatly cropped against his skull, if a little gritty with dirt and unknown filth. He's not bald, but his hair is barely an inch long on top. He continues to stare and his eyes flash black. The color fills his whole eye, whites and iris. He leaps out of the bed and frantically shakes his head to get the image of his demon-eyes out of his head. His sudden movements have roiled his empty stomach, starting to make him nauseous.

_ Just what I need. Hydra has turned me into a demon. Made my eyes turn black. Maybe next I'll grow horns. _

He's breathing heavily, but he's not exhausted like his usual outbursts leave him. He glances down and finds a tray of food, and he's suddenly aware he’s ravenous. After crouching down and sitting on the floor cross-legged, he pulls the tray over and take bites of chicken and boiled vegetables on the plate. Although the food is rather tasteless, it’s one of his most substantial meals from Hydra ever. He usually got an IV, which he had hoped had liquid nutrition in it. With how much weight he's lost in his time as a captive, he wouldn't be surprised if Hydra rarely fed him anything. He growls into the food and finishes it in what seems like seconds. 

_ Hopefully I didn't make myself sick by eating too fast. _

He grabs the empty cup on the tray and fills it with water from the sink. As he's drinking, he feels his stomach roll with nausea and extreme hunger. He sips the water slowing, hoping to quell his stomach.

** _Hungry._ **

James whips his head around after placing the cup on the edge of the sink. He expects to find another captive or a tech who has come to mess with him. The cell is still empty.

“Hello?”

** _We’re hungry. _ **

A deep, scratchy voice answers, but it sounds deafeningly loud. The words ricochet inside James's head, making him wince and hold his hands over his ears. Hydra apparently gave him hallucinogens again.

“We? We're hungry?” He repeats hesitantly. 

_ Who is the “we”? _

The voice sounds so close, but he can't see anyone else. After he finished his first question aloud, a slot at one end of the cell opens and another tray slides across the floor.

** _Food._ **

James feels his body surge to the tray. He almost falls into the food but rights himself in time. He grabs the piece of meat on the tray. It may be ham. He doesn't get enough time to see what it is before he's shoving it in his mouth. It is ham apparently. After a couple frantic chews, he retches. Ugh, he did eat too fast.

**It's dead! No good.**

The voice in the room bellows. The sound seems to reverberate through the cell, as if he shouted it. Maybe he did. 

_ Whatever Hydra gave me, it's really fucking with me now. What does the voice mean anyway? The food is perfectly edible. Delicious even. This is some of the best food I’ve eaten in years, and I’m not letting a hallucination spoil the meal.  _

He feels some weird shame, almost like it's not his emotions. He doesn't know why he would feel ashamed of anything, so he starts eating again. He eats slowly this time and savors the real meal.

A few more meals slide in before James can't eat another bite. The next few rounds were very rare steaks or almost undercooked chicken. He still ate them, maybe even more ravenously than before. He didn’t mind the undercooked texture for some reason. 

_ Hydra has been starving me too long. I could eat anything they give me now.  _

With an unfamiliarly full stomach, James climbs back into the bed and falls asleep remarkably fast.

While he was sleeping dreamlessly before, James's thoughts start to turn toward the strange voice and his ravenous hunger earlier. His dreams are not quite nightmares, because he isn’t disturbed enough to wake up, but he still feels anxious and trapped in the dreams. The first not-quite-a nightmare reenacts his first encounter with the black slime. He feels it crawl over him again, but, since he's not restrained in the dream, he struggles much more. While he's tugging his limbs away from the tendrils, the substance stops leisurely approaching him, and, instead, it jumps out and seems to cover his face. The blindness almost wakes James. The fear of suffocation and the inability to see cause him to throw his hands to his face and try to claw off the black goo. Before his hands meet his face, the substance suddenly clears away, and James can see again. This dream ends before he can put his hands back down at his side.

The next dream seems to take place in the same room, even though he hadn't noticed the surroundings in the first dream.

_ That's weird. I'm remembering dreams within dreams now? _

He looks down at his hands and finds his skin pallid. He pulls his head up and gazes into the reflective glass in a cell similar to the one he's in during his waking nightmares. Recoiling from the glass in shock, he realizes his reflection is not his own. Instead of his icy blue eyes and trimmed dark hair, James is looking at a thin-faced man with graying black hair. His eyes are dark but not completely dark like his demon eyes earlier. Instead of appearing a bit malnourished, his new face looks deathly ill. His skin has a sweaty sheen to it, and his eyes are bloodshot around the dark irises. As James's cataloging the appearance of his new body, he starts to feel pain. A full-bodied ache seems to touch every cell of his body. Even in a dream, James doesn't have the strength to ignore the growing pain. He curls on his side in the cot and tries to wait out the growing waves of pain. Even when Hydra tortured him daily, he was not in so much pain. Just when he thinks he'll wake up from how difficult it's becoming to breathe in the dream, James feels the pain start to seep away. It recedes from the limbs of the body, and he seems to be pulling away from the pale limbs and chest of the stranger. He can see the body he was in. It's now laying limp and with an empty gaze in the cell. James is certain the person he had just inhabited is now dead. His last thought, before he finally leaves this weird dream, is that he is also certain that he caused the death.

Another dream begins, but nothing seems to be happening in this one. Only darkness surrounds him. James feels as if he's waiting for something.

_ I feel like I've been here longer than I've been alive. Wait, where is “here”? _

He starts to move around the dark space, but, before he can get very far, he's running into a wall. The room is not very big at all, and it feels short as he stretches up to the ceiling. Every time he hits a wall, a sharp metallic clang resounds through the space. He hangs around a bit more and even tries to break through the metal surrounding him. Eventually, James realizes he's not getting out of this dark cell until someone comes to open it. He feels a depressing acceptance wash over him.

_ I have to wait, forever if I must. For the right person… to rescue me? _

James's thoughts seemed to end after “person,” but he doesn't know why.

_ What do I even mean by “right person”? _

He's finally thrown out of the dreams when he realizes that they don’t feel like dreams. These thoughts feel like memories.


	4. Chapter Three

Even though the last thought of the dreams disoriented James, he lazily wakes up. He feels surprisingly well-rested, and he stretches along the cot. When he feels a tightness around his belly, he glances down in time to see a thick black tentacle wrapped around his waist. James shoots upright, screaming and trying to rip off the tentacle. It disintegrates before his eyes, the thick black substance thinning out and disappearing again. He gropes across his stomach, but no evidence of the black goo remains. 

_ What the fuck is happening? What is that slime? Where did it go? _

** _We did not go anywhere._ **

James jumps out of the bed and looks for the source of the voice again.

_ Where is that voice coming from? These hallucinogens must be really strong to still have effects. _

** _We are not a hallucination._ **

The voice sounds almost angry with James's adamance that he's still talking to himself. James slowly straightens out from his crouched posture. While he had been prepared to fight off anyone in the cell, he's beginning to notice the voice isn't echoing through the room, even though the sound seems loud.

_ What? How can you not be a hallucination? There's nobody else in this room. _

** _Yes, nobody but us._ **

The end of “us” draws out into a hiss, slithering through James’ head.

_ Who is us? God, I'm going crazy talking to the voices in my head. _

** _We are Venom._ **

As the voice replies to James, ropes of slime begin to fall out of James' hands. More black slime oozes out of his body, and the tendrils wrap around his limbs and writhe across his skin.

_ Holy shit. That black slime didn't disappear. It's inside me! _

James starts ripping at the tendrils on his skin, but he can't pull any of the goo away from his body. Before he can start clawing at his skin to get the slime out, a sour smell fills the cell. James passes out soon after the smell, and he lands heavily on the floor.

* * *

James regains consciousness once again on the floor with another tray of food next to his head. 

** _Hungry! Eat. Must eat._ **

_ So the voice wasn't some horrible nightmare. _

James's limbs are dragged closer to the food by some invisible force.

_ What the hell? What's moving me? _

** _We must eat. So hungry._ **

The voice whines in James's head, and he finally pulls his hands over to the tray. He eats hesitantly. The food tastes good, but it's cold. Instead of a hot meal of meat and vegetables, he's been given little cuts of cold meat wrapped in a tangy rice.

** _Fresh. Delicious snacks._ **

The voice's commentary on the food is not really helping James's appetite. Just remembering that the voice is probably that black slime in his body makes him queasy.

_ It's not just a voice now. It gave a name. _

** _We are Venom._ **

James' chewing pauses.

_ Who is the “we”? Me and you? Because I am not Venom. My name is James Buchanan Barnes, and I want nothing to do with you. _

A wave of anguish and sadness slams into James's chest.

**No! We are Venom!**

** _We will not go back into the dark. We will not die. We will not hurt new host. We will save host. We are weak, but fix us. Will fix us._ **

The voice in his head is babbling, but James picks up on the “host” part.

“I won't be a host for anyone!” he shouts into the cell, “I don't want a damn parasite.”

** _Venom is not a parasite. We will not take, take, take. Not anymore. Venom is a symbiote. We give, and we live as long as the host lives. We make host strong._ **

James hesitantly resumes eating because he really is starving again. He doubts this weird parasite can actually make him stronger, but he is hungry. This Venom seems to be at least keeping Hydra from torturing him. 

_ The scientists must be avoiding damaging this Venom by leaving me alone. _

Venom is quiet for the rest of the day, which mostly involves eating. Hydra pushes in a steady stream of trays. James is eating much more than three times a day, but he's been hungry enough to finish every meal. Even with all the food and a full belly, he craves more. He has a specific craving, but he can't figure out what it is. The cold fish and rice had been one of his favorites, but it's not like a prisoner has any say in the type of meals he gets. 

Eventually, all the meals translate to weight gain. From his reflection in the glass, James can see his body filling out. Some muscle and fat start to fill in between his ribs, and the sharp knobs of his spine disappear. He sleeps less and mills about the cell more. Instead of exhaustion plaguing him every morning, he becomes antsy and paces around the cell. Finally, he starts calisthenics in the cell. His push-ups, sit-ups, and running in place pass the time. He even considers talking to the voice in his head to keep away the boredom. Although he immediately dismissed that thought, a few more days of silence and boring routine finally force him to try communicating with Venom.

“Hello?” he grumbles while laying on the cot.

_ I'm an idiot. A crazy idiot trying to talk to a voice in my head. _

No response comes, so James gets up and continues a few sets of sit-ups.

Then he pauses and whispers “Venom?” into the cell, trying to be loud enough for Venom to hear but not loud enough to bring about Hydra's attention.

_ Still no response. Maybe I did make up the voice. Why would I call it Venom? That's such a weird name. _

** _Why?_ **

James freezes during a sit-up. Holding himself stiff for a few seconds, he drops the position and lies on the floor.

_ Hello? I feel like a lunatic. Thinking at something… someone in my head? _

** _Why is Venom weird?_ **

James stares at the ceiling for a few seconds before deciding to entertain a conversation with the thing in his head. So far, Venom hasn't done anything to hurt him. In fact, James suspects some muscle gain has something to do with the parasite. Even when James was able to work out regularly, he never gained muscle this fast.

_ It's not a name. Venom is just a thing like poison. How could it be your name? _

** _Your name is too long. Venom is better. Easier to remember than… than… Jamie Buchabee._ **

_ What did you call me? _ Although the situation is so weird, James smiles at Venom's fumbling. _ My name is James Buchanan Barnes. _

** _Too long. Don't like._ **

_ Well, could you remember a nickname instead? _

** _What is nickname?_ **

_ A nickname is a shorter version of a name. My first name is James, but I used to be called Bucky. It's a shorter version of my middle name, Buchanan. _

** _Will remember Bucky. Easy._ **

_ Okay, I guess you can call me Bucky. Can I give you a nickname, too? _

** _Venom is short. Easy. No nickname needed._ **

_ Yeah, but like I said it's not really a name. Can I call you V? _

** _Very short. We will never forget V. Like it._ **

The two fall silent again, and Bucky finishes his set of sit-ups. Yet another tray of food slides into the cell, and Bucky turns to it. He eats cross-legged on the floor, like usual, but now he has a conversation partner who doesn't mind if he talks with his mouth full.

_ So what are you, if you're not a parasite? _

** _Said earlier. Symbiote. Can't survive in the air so need a host. Need Bucky._ **

_ You need me, huh? Now why would I let you stay? _

Fear blindsides Bucky. One minute he was calmly eating his food, and the next he is gasping and holding a hand to his chest.

_ What is happening? _

** _Stay. Need Bucky. Need host. Bucky is a good host. Perfect host._ **

_ Calm down! What are you doing to me? _

** _Can't leave Bucky. Won't be separated. Won't leave host. Won't kill host. Would never kill Bucky._ **

_ V! Venom! Stop! I won't get rid of you. I don't even know how. Please calm down. _

Bucky's breathing starts to slow, and he tries to stay calm and fight the fading fear.

_ You can control my body? _

** _Won't do it if Bucky doesn't want it. An accident. Leaving Bucky is scary. Deadly. So take control of Bucky to show scariness. Hurts to take Bucky. To use Bucky._ **

_ That's reassuring. I don't want you making me do anything I don't want.  _

_ Why does it hurt? _

** _Bucky is strong. A strong host. Strong mind and body. Perfect host._ **

_ Well, Hydra gave me the serum, so that may make me stronger. But it didn't do much besides make it impossible to kill me. Hydra has hurt me in countless ways, but I never die. Just survive through the fucking pain. _

** _What is Hydra? Will kill Hydra for hurting host! Kill for hurting Bucky!_ **

_ Good luck with that, pal. I've been trying to kill Hydra for years. I can never escape. _

** _Did not have Venom. Venom will help escape._ **

_ How? How are we gonna get out of this cell? Your slime could get out the food slot, but I can't fit. _

** _Must go with Bucky. We will fight. Venom makes Bucky strong. Stronger than Hydra._ **

_ Hydra is a lot of people. We can't fight all of them. Especially when your host only has one arm. _

** _Make a new arm. V will make new arm._ **

_ What? How? _

As soon as Bucky finishes the thought, warm tendrils of slime wrap his shoulder and begin to fall. The slime slowly reforms into a limb, an almost perfect mirror to his right arm. The goo hardens and smooths out until Bucky is staring at two hands. One is pale white with old calluses, and the other is smooth black and tipped with claws. He moves the new limb carefully. After watching the arm turn and the claws stretch out, he then forms a fist. The arm responds perfectly to him as if he's always had it. As he releases the fist, the sour smell returns to the cell.

_ Hydra finally figured out how to get my arm back. _

Bucky passes out.


	5. Chapter Four

Bucky comes to on his cot. A mild headache is fading, and he has the distinct impression that he has been manhandled while unconscious.

_ Now what did Hydra do? _

He examines his body but finds no outward signs of experimentation.

_ Venom? Are you still there? _

** _Yes, Bucky. Still here. Still with Bucky._ **

_ What happened? _

** _Bad smell made Bucky sleep. Couldn't wake you up. Couldn't help._ **

_ It's fine, V. Hydra must be gassing us. The smell has to be a sedative of some kind. _

** _Don't like it. Bad people come and touch Bucky. Can't hurt bad people when Bucky is asleep._ **

_ Well, that's what happens when you're a prisoner. Hydra can take us whenever they want. Do you know what they did while I was out? I can't find any injuries or anything. _

** _Nothing. They looked for Venom. Asked about arm but V stayed away. _ **

_ Good. They probably want to test out their new toy. _

** _But V is no help. No help when hidden._ **

_ No, stay hidden. If you're what Hydra wants, I guarantee it's better if you stay away. Even if they hurt me, you have to stay hidden. Understand? _

** _Don't like. No one hurts Bucky._ **

_ Understand? _

** _Understand. But don't like._ **

_ I don't like it either, but we have to stop Hydra's plans. When they still thought the serum would make me like Steve, they planned to make me work for them and kill lots of people. _

** _Who is Steve?_ **

Bucky didn't even realize he had brought up Steve. Now all his thoughts fill with Steve, and old memories flood his mind with images and feelings. The simple happiness of their shared childhood, the pride of watching Steve grow up and find work using his art skills, the worry and sorrow whenever Steve fell ill, all these memories fill Bucky's head. The fear of their separation when Bucky got drafted and the pain and horror of war follow soon after. Bucky is somewhat aware that Venom is listening to these memories, and he is glad to not have to explain everything in words. He feels Venom at the edge of his mind, watching silently and almost seeming to be in awe. His memories continue to follow the story of his life with Steve. The amazement and relief at meeting Steve at Alonso is quickly followed by the frantic worry about their escape. The pain of war still colors most of the next memories, but now the happiness and hope of Steve is mixed with them. He lets a few memories of talking with Steve or sharing a scraped-together meal in the European forests come to the surface of his mind. His memories end with the final mission with Steve. The desperation of the reach from the train morphs into the cold shock of the fall. He thought he would die from the fall. It was such a long drop. Instead of death, the serum kept him alive. He stops the tide of memories before Hydra finds him in the snow. He doesn't want to relive those memories, and they have nothing to do with Steve.

_ That's Steve. Steven Grant Rogers. _

** _Understand._ **

V falls silent for the rest of the day, and Bucky assumes he's thinking over the memories he shared. He has no clue what the symbiote will think of Steve, but Venom was bound to find out about his lifelong friend at some point. Given enough time, Bucky always turns to his memories before Hydra. He's trapped here, and the thoughts help keep him sane. At first, he thought Steve would rescue him, but he quickly realized that the fall should have killed him. Steve must have thought Bucky did die, so Bucky stopped hoping for rescue. For a bit, he hoped for escape, but Hydra never left an opportunity. Even if he becomes strong enough with V's help, Bucky doubts they could escape Hydra's clutches.

_ Venom? _

** _Yes._ **

Even though V had been quiet the past few days, he answered Bucky immediately.

_ I've been thinking about our escape plan, and I think we'll need more than two arms. _

** _Can make more. V can help._ **

_ More arms are still too big to fit through the door or any cracks in the walls. _

As Bucky continues planning what they'll need to escape, he fails to notice the long tendrils of black flowing from between his shoulder blades. The tentacles lengthen and hit the floor without much noise. One tendril slithers across the floor towards the tray of food on the floor. Whenever they finish one tray and put it back at the door, another quickly takes its place. Bucky still has weird unexplainable cravings, but he is never hungry anymore. A second tentacle joins the first at the tray, and, as they both slide under the tray, they gently lift it. Bucky is still deep in thought and doesn't notice the tray until it's hovering right in front of his chin.

“Oh, fuck!” Bucky spooks when he sees the tray, and the tendrils jump. All the tentacles shudder at Bucky's outburst, and the tray rattles to the floor. “What the? Did I do that? Did we do that?”

Before V can answer, both smell the sour sedative fill the stale air of the cell. The tentacles quickly retract, but they don't disappear until they've cushioned Bucky's fall. 

* * *

A man with short brown hair opens his eyes on his back. He slowly rises and looks around a glass-walled cell.

_ Where am I? _

Since no one else is in the room, the man feels no need to speak. He gets out of the cot and stands in the center of the room.

** _Back in the cell. Hydra did not hurt us. Looking for Venom again. Stayed hidden. Didn't like it but stayed hidden for Bucky._ **

_ Who the hell is Bucky? Who's talking to me? _

The man carefully searches the room, but he still sees no other prisoners.

** _Bucky? You are Bucky. Something wrong with Bucky._ **

A crawling sensation over his scalp surprises the man, and he grabs his head. Suddenly, a searing headache starts. He feels like his skull is being split apart.

_ Oh, God. What's happening? V… Venom, stop! _

Bucky drops to the floor on his knees as a horrid headache starts to recede. He's still holding his head.

_ V? What happened? Why do I have a headache? _

** _Forgot us. V tried to help. V looked for Bucky._ **

Bucky groans and crawls back into the bed. The headache is slowly fading, but he feels drained now.

_ Happens sometimes. _

** _What? Bucky forgets?_ **

_ Yeah, Hydra tried to take my memories a couple times. Used drugs sometimes. Used electricity sometimes. _

Bucky winced. Just thinking about what Hydra used to do to him regularly is painful.

_ They couldn't get me to follow their orders with torture, so they just tried to make me forget disobedience. A blank slate. _

A wave of anger passes through Bucky's body. His fist clenches, and his muscles become stiff.

** _No one hurts Bucky. No one hurts host. Must kill Hydra. Never forget us. Never forget Venom._ **

_ I can't control when it happens, buddy.  _

His fist unclenches slowly.

_ But apparently you can help me remember. _

** _Yes, Venom helps. Help Bucky remember and never forget us._ **

_ And Steve. _

** _What?_ **

_ Never forget Steve. I never want to forget Steve.  _ Bucky is struggling to stay conscious but continues communicating with V. His eyes fall closed, and he sighs heavily.

** _Understand. Steve is also us. You and him are a we. Like you and Venom are a we. We will not forget him. Save Steve for Bucky always._ **

Bucky is relieved to hear that V will help, although he is unsure about how V thinks. He falls asleep as the headache finally disappears.


	6. Chapter Five

They spend their days eating and working out as best they can in the little cell. Bucky gets more pent-up and worries about when Hydra will strike next. Since their experiment seems to be a success, Bucky is sure that Hydra will not sit on this. He's surprised that the scientists have waited this long to investigate the symbiosis. The only obstacle may be injuring Venom whenever they have to control Bucky, but it's only a matter of time before they find a way to control them.

Bucky decides that they have to work together to have any chance of success. Venom is enthusiastic to communicate with Bucky and help in any way. While Bucky keeps up their health, they practice switching control of Bucky's body. The first time Bucky let Venom take over the body, he was enveloped in black slime. His reflection morphed into a massive black beast with long white slits for eyes. Venom moved around the cell easily in this form, and Bucky felt the incredible strength in the tendril-wrapped limbs. Before the pair could start testing their combined strength, the room was gassed with the sedative. Venom quickly retreated when the sour smell hit them, but they immediately reported to Bucky that the Hydra scientists were getting impatient, when Bucky remained consciousness.

** _One tried to hurt Bucky. One wanted to stab you. To get me out. To force me out._ **

_ I expected they would start that, V. You can't show yourself. You're the one who said you can't control me when I'm unconscious. We have to practice more, but you can't cover my body. You have to stay within me to prevent the gas from knocking me out every time we practice. _

** _Venom will try. We will try. Must escape. Must save host._ **

* * *

They are practicing switching control today. V is moving Bucky around the room while trying to stay within the confines of Bucky's skin. At first, V was a little clumsy. They were unaccustomed to the small limbs and short strides of Bucky's body. Now V is agile and able to move Bucky faster than Bucky could run alone. They throw punches and flip through the air easily. Bucky is ecstatic with their progress.

_ This is great V! Can you try a kick flip? This is how it feels. _

Bucky easily takes control back and completes a kick into the air followed by a flip away from an imagined enemy. Bucky is stronger from the combination of the serum and Venom's power, so he's easily able to show V some acrobatic attacks.

_ Okay, try to do it faster and harder than I did. You seem to put a lot more power behind my moves. _

** _Yes, V is strong. Will protect Bucky._ **

Bucky relinquishes control again, and Venom practices the move a few times. In each iteration, they add more strength to the kick and flip higher. Bucky is impressed and decides they've had enough practice today. Usually, Bucky and Venom share control now. Bucky communicating easily with Venom on where he wants to go, and V is comfortable enough to know how to move along. They sit on the cot, and Bucky is pleasantly surprised to find they are breathing heavily.

_ Finally found a workout to tire us out. Do you feel ready to try out our escape plan yet? _

Before V can answer, the sour smell returns.

_ What? V, are you visible? Why are they gassing us? _

** _No, not seen. Hidden._ **

_ Oh, no. Our time’s run out. No matter what happens, V, do not show yourself. They could separate us. _

** _Understand._ **

They keel over on the bed. Bucky falls unconscious from the chemicals in the air, but, as usual, Venom remains vigilant. Of course, they stay hidden and move up and down under Bucky's skin. They try to soothe the worry and fear that plagues Bucky even when he's unconscious.

Four scientists and a guard arrive with a gurney to take them.

** _Different. Never take us out before. Don't like. Don't touch Bucky. No._ **

Venom worries and begins to circulate faster under Bucky's skin. After strapping Bucky's prone form into the gurney, the group adds another set of metal cuffs at Bucky's wrists and ankles. Then they're rolled out.


	7. Chapter Six

Bucky wakes strapped into a chair. His head weakly tips around to try to take in his surroundings. 

_ Wow, this sedative was really strong. We don't normally feel so woozy afterwords. Do we, V? _

The silence stretches as Bucky catalogs the room's occupants.

_ Venom? _

Bucky is sitting in a metal chair, strapped in with thick fabric straps and metal cuffs at his wrists. A twinge of pain from the back of his hand alerts him to the IV drip hanging to his right. When he manages to tilt his head up, a strange halo of metal with a thick cable coming out of it sits above his head. A door opens from behind him, and he pulls his head back down to catch two guards and a man in a lab coat come around the chair.

_ Venom… now would be a good time for the escape plan. _

Fear begins to seep into Bucky's thoughts. He barely feels Venom, and he can't seem to contact the symbiote in any way.

“Good, he's conscious. Prep the machine.”

While Bucky was trying to find Venom, two more lab coats entered the room, and one moves to a control panel to Bucky's left. The first scientist comes to stand in front of the chair and its occupant.

“Hello, Sergeant Barnes. Since we need a few minutes to prepare the machine, I'll explain what's happening to you. Not that you will remember or care about such things soon. I hope you've noticed we have successfully achieved symbiosis with the alien organism. Apparently, your body is suitable for its purposes, even when your body has been so unsuitable for Hydra.”

_ Do these idiots not know that Venom can talk to me? I already know about symbiosis. _

Even though Bucky is very tempted, he avoids rolling his eyes at the pompous scientist. Although the scientists themselves have little ability to injury Bucky directly, they usually order punishment for insubordination or find unpleasant experiments to try. Bucky hopes to avoid punishments as long as it takes for Venom to return.

“We have sedated it for this process to avoid damaging it. We are not sure how electrical simulation will affect it.”

_ Electrical simulation? Oh, God. _

Bucky pales, and his eyes unfocus from the scientist.

_ No, no, no. They can't make me forget. I can't forget Venom. If I forget V, I'll forget the escape plan. No, no.  _

_ I'll forget Steve. _

"From our tests, we believe it has settled into a hibernation-like state in limited areas of your body. Since we confirmed it is nowhere near your brain, the procedure should not affect the symbiote. Minor tests on your… scar tissue has confirmed that, if the symbiote is not near affected cells, it experiences no degradation."

_ Great. They electrocuted my stump to see if Venom would be hurt. Anything to protect the precious alien. _

“The sedative we gave you has stabilized the symbiote, and we will be able to manipulate its form and effects to some extent now. We can repair certain… deficiencies and mold your body into the perfect weapon. Your body and the symbiote will be the new fist of Hydra. We've lost valuable time waiting on your ineffective serum, but now we can shape the next century, the next  _ centuries _ with our new asset. Hail Hydra.”

“Hail Hydra,” the two guards and the two other scientists quickly parrot back.

_ No. No, no.  _ “No, you can't take them from me. You can't take my memories. I'll always remember again. Eventually.”

“Yes, routine maintenance of your conditioning will be necessary, but that will not be an issue. Is the machine ready yet?”

Bucky starts to struggle in his bonds. 

_ All the strength from Venom is gone. No, they can't. Venom, wake up! V, where are you? _

“Power levels are stable. We can begin.”

“Then start up the sequence. We've wasted enough time.”

“Yes, sir”

Bucky hears an ominous whine overhead and then feels the halo champ over his skull. He can't move his head anymore, and his eyes are fixed blankly ahead.

_ Venom, please. We have to get out of here. _

Bucky closes his eyes. He feels a drop of moisture run down his cheek.

Then he starts screaming.


	8. Chapter Seven

“Your target is a nuclear scientist. He is under the protection of the level six agent Natasha Romanoff. Your mission is to terminate the scientist only. We suggest avoiding engagement with Agent Romanoff to maintain your anonymity and to ensure mission success. Confirmed death in 48 hours. Do you understand?”

“Mission parameters accepted.”

“Prepare the Asset’s weapons and equipment. We leave by 0700.”

** _Headache_ ** .

The Asset ignores the voice in its head. The voice is always stating the obvious and often distracts it during mission briefings. Even with these minor hassles, the voice is still better than the utter silence in its head after the techs start medical prep on the body.

** _Important. Something important._ **

_ Yes, the mission parameters are imperative to our function. _

** _No. Something else important. Can't think. Head hurts._ **

The Asset watches as the techs attach an IV drip to its arm.

** _Stop. More time. Need more time._ **

_ We have 48 hours for mission completion. _

** _No. Need more time to heal._ **

_ We are at full operational capacity. No injuries detected. _

** _Heal head. Fix headache._ **

_ Inadvisable. Operational capacity worsens when headache dissipates. Erratic behavior is not permissible during missions. _

The feeling of the other presence in its head fades, and the Asset is now ready for deployment. As the presence fades, the black arm grows from its side. Slowly filling in with black tendrils, the arm extends and ends with a fully functional hand. Although the color can never be changed and the black limb is difficult to hide during stealth missions, the Asset enjoys using the arm. It is much more powerful than the right arm, and it absorbs wounds easily. Very little seems to damage it. The Asset is advised to avoid contact with fire, and he agrees with this advisement. He has no memory of this information being correct, but he feels it is correct. The medical team keeps him at full operational capacity, and he cannot question the will of Hydra anyway. Insubordination is unacceptable.

The Asset is deployed alone, and it feels alone at this time. The chemicals used to prepare it for missions reduces the feeling of a second presence in the Asset’s head. While the Asset is largely ignorant of what is in its body, it is highly skilled and acts under its own power during missions. Occasionally, the black limb will supplement with more defensive movements, and the Asset does not always have control of those movements. Such as now, when he is taking his sniper position. The black limb stays out of the way, but he must correct its position to steady the rifle. Now he refocuses on the mission as the target approaches the area of interception.

He pauses his breathing and aims. The shot is quick and precise and, of course, hits the target's vehicle exactly in the front left tire. The vehicle swerves but stops before any collision can occur with surrounding vehicles. The incident appears to only be a blow tire, consistent with the Asset’s goal of stealth. The Asset watches Natasha Romanoff, level six agent, exit the driver's seat. She comes around the vehicle and covers the scientist. Watching carefully, the Asset adjusts the rifle to follow the pair. No opening for the scientist comes. Then the target crouches further behind Agent Romanoff in fear. Although she is still covering his body, the Asset now has a perfect shot through the soft tissue of Romanoff's side into the thoracic cavity of the scientist. Rapidly, before the opening is gone, the Asset pulls the trigger. Agent Romanoff does not fall, but she immediately clutches her side. Even from this distance, the Asset can see the blood welling up between her fingers. The scientist has collapsed behind Agent Romanoff, and the Asset watches his breaths struggle and stop. After 30 seconds without signs of life, the Asset turns to dismantle the rifle and pack up for extraction. It wonders if the shot through Romanoff counts as “engagement.” Since it was only advised against engagement and not commanded, it sees no reason for punishment, but it is not its place to deem when punishment is necessary. Its only concern is the mission.


	9. Chapter Eight

The mission is to defend the helicarriers. They have failed twice already, so this last stand is crucial. Even though the opponents are few, they have been effective. The man with the wings was a surprise, even though the Asset feels he has met this opponent before. Perhaps he did not have wings at first. The Asset feels the presence of the voice again, seeming to push inside his head and worsen the constant headache. He must refocus. The mission is imminent.

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind before the target walked onto the platform.

“Bucky, please don't make me do this,” the man in the colorful suit pleads.

Momentarily the Asset is struck with blinding pain inside its skull before he surges at the target. The black arm is uncooperative and takes excessive energy to control as the Asset and the man exchange blows. 

* * *

“You… are… my… mission!” The Asset roars as he pummels the man in the face. They have failed. The helicarrier explodes randomly around them, but the Asset continues to hold the man down.

“Then finish it. Because I'm with you until the end of the line.”

The Asset's punches begin to subside. His flesh arm was badly injured, certainly dislocated, during the battle, so the Asset has been forcing the black arm into the target's face. The arm had swung wildly a few times, and the Asset could barely control its aim. Another wave of pain in his head finally stops his fist.

** _No! Stop! Remember!_ **

The words are punctuated with sharp pangs of pain, and the Asset groans. He moves his hands to his ears and clutches his head.

The target falls through the empty panes of the helicarrier. The Asset watches for a few seconds before his body shifts and dives after the target.

** _Must get Steve._ **

_ Who is Steve? _

Fleeting images of the target come up with the name. Except, the target is smaller and much skinnier. The Asset is not in control of its body. The black arm is dragging the target… dragging Steve out of the murky water. He watches Steve breathe for a few seconds before he feels the body turn and begin running.

_ What is happening? _

** _Must escape. We can finally escape._ **

The Asset yields control of the body. Escaping sounds advisable. Hydra is in shambles and, if they were to return, they would certainly be punished gravely.

It feels relief. Not just from the other presence in his mind but also from its own mind. The Asset is finally free.


	10. Chapter Nine

James Buchanan Barnes walks into the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Although he has on thick layers and a cap to disguise his appearance, James is aware this outing is a huge risk. At any time, someone could recognize him. A rogue Hydra agent could be out. There were so many variables to consider, but they both deemed this outing necessary.

Venom has slowly been healing his brain from the injuries of Hydra, but the memories are difficult to place and understand. So, they decided to research Steve, Captain Rogers, like any civilian.

** _Small. Steve was small?_ **

Venom asks discreetly as they watch the display of Steve's transformation play over and over.

_ Yeah. He was a scrawny guy before the serum. _

** _Serum made him big and strong. Makes my host strong too._ **

James huffs a laugh to himself.

_ Not big, though. I just got really good at surviving anything Hydra threw at me. _

** _No. You are strong like Steve. We feel it. We are hurt now, but we will heal. Be strong again._ **

James lets Venom's feelings and comforts wash over him. Since the chemicals Hydra pumped into their body finally washed out, they have unimpeded conversations now. James can feel Venom throughout his body. They're fixing up all the injuries from their escape, and James is grateful for the speedy recovery. However, they will have to eat again soon to keep up with the energy use.

“Inseparable on schoolyard and battlefield…” the overhead narration begins as they approach his display within the exhibit.

** _James Buchanan Barnes. Bucky. That's us. That's you._ **

_ Yeah, buddy. That's me. _

They read the displays and listen idly while strolling through the rest of the exhibit. Bucky notices a little theater room playing some interviews, and he decides that's a good place to have a private conversation with Venom. So far, he hasn't accidentally started talking to himself aloud, but it's better to take precautions at this point.

_ V? This visit isn't going as well as I planned. I keep noticing how the info is wrong or off in some way. I’m getting a headache. _

** _Sorry. Can't fix headache. It's from healing. Like sore muscles._ **

_ It's fine. I can handle some discomfort, bud. Maybe we should just find Steve. I don't know if it's safe to return to him, but he'll make it safe for us if we contact him in some way first. _

** _Want to see Steve. We hurt him bad. Want to help him._ **

_ I don't think he'll want you in his body to heal him, V. You're not exactly well-known beyond Hydra. I don't even think they kept records on you specifically. Only mention the Asset. I mean, they had to strap me down to get you in me. _

** _Sorry. Couldn't ask before. Needed a good host to live. Now it is okay? Trying to be good, not hurt host in any way._ **

_ Yes, V. Everything's fine. The start of our relationship was a bit rocky, but we’re good now. Okay, let's find somewhere to lie low. I'll see if I can figure out how to get to Steve without endangering any of us. _

Bucky feels some hesitance from Venom, but they don't have time to address it right now. They leave the exhibit with a new purpose and a bit of hope.


	11. Chapter Ten

They find a nondescript motel to stay at for a bit, and Bucky starts researching. He discovers that Steve did a lot more than destroy the helicarriers. All of SHIELD and Hydra's data has been dumped on the internet. He scours articles, mission debriefs, and research files for information. Although V has mostly focused on healing his pleasant memories, the longer they spend healing the more often they stumble on memories from Hydra. Bucky wakes in a cold sweat more than once through the week, as V's efforts drag up memories of torture and brainwashing. V apologizes every time, but Bucky has noticed they've gotten quieter. They'll go hours or days without exchanging a word or feeling, and Bucky begins to worry.

_ V? Are you there? _

** _Always. Always with host._ **

_ Okay, how are you feeling? _

** _Hungry._ **

_ No, I mean what are you thinking? How are you emotionally? You aren't chatting too much. _

** _Hungry. Tired. Keep scaring host. Scaring Bucky. Don't mean to._ **

_ Oh, that's fine. That's understandable. You're fixing my brain, Venom. That's more than I ever hoped for. _

** _Miss Steve. Bucky misses Steve. Thinks of him a lot. Venom sees. Venom is sad for Bucky._ **

_ Oh, Venom. It's not safe to find Steve yet. He's… um. He's still in the hospital. We have to wait. _

** _Forgot Steve. We forgot Steve. Never supposed to forget Steve._ **

_ I don't know how you could have stopped Hydra, V. We were both kinda incapacitated. _

** _Still forgot. Still bad._ **

Bucky feels Venom withdraw. The strange feeling of silence feels his head, and he rapidly becomes nervous.

_ V? Venom, where did you go? _

Venom's presence fills Bucky's awareness slowly.

** _Still here. Tired._ **

Bucky slows his breathing and calms his heart rate as Venom wanders through his head. They give comforting touches to Bucky's amygdala and quell his fear response. After reassuring Bucky that they're not leaving permanently, Venom withdraws again. Bucky is still nervous about V's silence, but he decides to let V rest instead of dragging them out again.

* * *

Even though V has stopped talking much, Bucky feels them rebuild their body and brain. Eventually, Bucky figures out that splinters of Hydra still remain. His research drags up memories of facilities not mentioned in the data dump. Most of them are without resources or much support, but they’re still a threat. Bucky's research becomes less of a way to situate memories and more of a way to plan attacks. He checks on Steve through the tabloids and less official news sources to hide his tracks. Steve stays in the Americas for a while, and Bucky decides to take matters into his own hands. Hydra cells are still active in Europe, so Bucky smuggles himself across the Atlantic.

Although Bucky occasionally has to postpone a raid when panic attacks or nightmares leave him exhausted for days, he makes good progress. No bases left are strong enough to survive the Asset. He always works quickly and efficiently, leaving only confused innocents behind. V still offers him super strength and rapid healing, but they are stubbornly quiet most days. They never offer the black arm, but Bucky is still dangerous without it. Whenever Bucky becomes nervous about V's silence, they'll fill his head with the simple reassurance of their presence. Bucky decides he can figure out what's bothering V after Hydra is truly dead and gone.

As Bucky works to end Hydra in Europe, he finds that Steve is making his way through the Americas. He's not exactly being subtle about it either. Bucky hears about explosions in rural Kansas and the arrest of elite businessmen in Venezuela. Although he keeps tabs on Steve, Bucky is reluctant to contact him until his work in Europe is done. He tells himself he just needs to stay focused, but he also knows he's nervous about seeing Steve again. Venom's healing had given him almost all of his memories with Steve, but sometimes the memories feel as if they belong to someone else. Memories with Steve in Brooklyn are filled with a sheen of joy that Bucky's now melancholic attitude can't understand. Of course, he remembers Steve fondly, but he doesn't feel capable of such simple happiness anymore.

As Bucky wraps up his destruction of European Hydra, he debates returning to the U.S. Steve seems to be making good progress without him, and he decides to keep his distance for a little while longer. After all, he'll be coming to Steve with more than just himself.


	12. Chapter Eleven

Bucky settles in Bucharest, keeping himself hidden and trying to coax Venom out.

_ V? Venom, where are you? Why don't you want to talk? _

** _… Tired._ **

Bucky sighs heavily and dumps the groceries on his tiny apartment's counter. While shaking off the frustrations of dealing with a withdrawn symbiote, he organizes the foodstuffs into the fridge and cabinets. 

_ Come on, buddy. You've barely talked to me in weeks. Why won't you talk to me? _

Venom's shame clouds his thoughts for a few seconds before they retreat altogether. Venom will occasionally wander into Bucky's brain to show they're still there, but, more and more, they retreat entirely out of Bucky's awareness. Before Bucky can sit down to deal with Venom, he hears a suspicious creak from the hallway. He stills and straightens up again.

_ If someone's about to rob me, they're going to get quite a surprise. _

Then a couple soft knocks on the door erase the idea of a robbery. Bucky decides he can handle whatever's at the door, even if the knocks are a ruse. He moves silently to the door, having memorized the weak spots in his floors weeks ago. He cracks the door but swings it open all the way as soon as he sees his unexpected guest.

“Hey, Buck.”

Memories and emotions rise through Bucky's chest at the sight of Steve in simple civilian clothes, standing sheepishly at the door. Bucky feels V rear up and burst with energy at the sight of Steve, too. Bucky checks around Steve before grabbing his arm and pulling him into the apartment.

“I wasn't tailed, you know. I guarantee your location is still safe and under wraps,” Steve comments on Bucky's rush to drag Steve inside. Before Bucky can reply, he feels Venom surge through his body again. He steps back from Steve and falls into the couch as Venom starts vehemently pushing words and emotions into his head. Steve follows Bucky for a step, worryingly reaching for him.

** _Don't forget. Never forget Steve. When we forgot ourselves, we were supposed to remember Steve. Steve is us. Part of us. Almost killed Steve. Hurt him. Made to hurt him. Wouldn't stop. Couldn't stop._ **

Bucky is flooded with regret and Venom's memories of attacking Steve. He breathes through the waves of emotion and tries to calm Venom.

“Is that why you've been hiding, V? You think you're to blame? No. No, V. I don't blame you at all. Hydra had both of us.”

“Bucky, what's going on? Who are you talking to?”

Bucky barely notices Steve's question as Venom's memories continue to overflow.

** _Sorry, so sorry. Never supposed to forget Steve. Failed. Failed Bucky._ **

“No. Stop. It's not your fault.” Bucky shares his memories of Venom's efforts to heal them after escaping Hydra. He pushes Venom’s doubts away with the memories of them attempting to help Bucky whenever they got the chance. Eventually, Bucky's breathing slows, and Venom stops overwhelming his mind. They continue to swirl around in his head, but he finally notices Steve's concerned expression.

“Bucky, what's happening? Are you hearing voices?” Steve repeats when he sees Bucky's eyes focus on him again.

Bucky chuckles softly before answering, “Close, I'm hearing one voice.” Steve moves closer to the couch and the furrow between his brows gets deeper. “... but it’s not a hallucination. They're not a hallucination. Trust me. Hydra has done a lot to my brain, but I'm not hallucinating this time.” Bucky holds up a hand to stop Steve's advance. He's not sure if he wants Steve to join him on the couch yet. 

Steve pauses as soon as Bucky moves his hand. “I don't understand. There's a voice in your head that's not a hallucination?” 

_ V, can you show yourself. _

Venom shares a hesitant shyness, but Bucky feels them watching Steve through his eyes.

_ This would be so much easier if you showed yourself. _

Bucky sighs, “It's an experiment. Hydra gave me an alien called a symbiote.”

“What? Is it dangerous? Where is it? Do we need to remove it?”

“Whoa, slow down. Yes, they're dangerous, but I don't want them removed.” Venom warms Bucky's chest with gratitude and happiness at those words. “Do you remember when I fought you?”

“Yeah… what does that have to do with the alien?”

“Do you remember that I had two arms?” Bucky shifts to show Steve his empty left sleeve. Steve looks as if he just noticed, and his eyes widen a bit in surprise.

“The alien, the symbiote, is named Venom. They give me super strength and heal my body pretty well, when Hydra's not fucking with us. They usually appear as this weird black slime, but sometimes they make us another arm to use.”

Steve nods hesitantly. “You're sure it's not bad to keep it? Are you sure you don't want it removed?”

Bucky actually shudders at Steve's suggestion this time. “No, we've been together so long now. I can't imagine not having V in my head anymore. We both escaped Hydra. V would die without me, and I don't want that. So, no, I don't want them removed.” Bucky shakes his head decisively.

Steve holds up his hands in defeat. “Whatever you want, Buck. You should just know that an alien in your head doesn't sound too great to me.” Steve smirks lightly.

Bucky remembers to redirect the conversation, “How did you find me, Steve?”

“I came over after wrapping up Hydra in the Americas. I expected to find the festering remains of the organization in the long list of cells in Europe we'd compiled from the data dump, but instead I found dust or the skeletal remains of destroyed warehouses.”

Bucky smiles proudly, “That was me. While V was healing me up, I finished off Hydra over here. I… didn't exactly want to see you right away.”

“Oh, is it all right that I'm here now? I thought since you were staying in the same place that you might be expecting me. That sounds like a stupid assumption, now that I say it out loud.”

Bucky shakes his head at Steve's distress, “Steve, you can't imagine how happy I am to see you. I was staying away mostly because I didn't know how to bring up the whole Venom thing if I ever found you. I see that was taken care of a lot easier than I expected.”

Steve shrugs and laments, “I'm not exactly thrilled that you have an alien sharing your body, but it's your body to share, I guess.” Steve rubs his hand against his chin. “Anyway, after we figured out that Hydra was dead here, we suspected it may have been you. Nobody had seen or heard about Hydra's Asset in the U.S. since the Triskelion fell. Of course, we heard nothing from Europe either until we found the remains of the bases. We, oh, that is me, Natasha Romanoff and Sam Wilson, started double-checking your work.”

Bucky's eyebrows rise at the names.

“Do you remember them?” Steve drops his hand and tilts his head.

“Yeah. Yes, of course. Venom healed my brain. I remember almost everything. I think I also met Agent Romanoff before?” Bucky looks up at Steve hesitantly after scrutinizing the floor in thought.

“Um, yeah. She said you shot her once. No hard feelings, though. She saw your file, too, and decided blaming you was unfounded.”

Bucky glances down again, guilt and shame weighing down his head. Venom swirls under his skin, giving voiceless comfort and reassurances along with Steve's words.

Steve continues, “Natasha helped on the sidelines because she was tying up her loose ends. She had moved on to her contacts in Asia by the time we were sure Hydra was dead here. Really, Natasha was the one to track you down. I just followed the directions. She and I are the only ones who know about this place, but I wanted to ask you something.”

Bucky watches Steve move closer to him and then hesitate again. After Bucky scoots over on the couch, Steve finally sits next to Bucky. They don't touch in any way, but Bucky swears he can feel the warmth from Steve's body from across the cushions. Venom marvels at Bucky's joy when Steve smiles unconsciously.

** _Host so happy. Warm._ **

_ Yeah, buddy. I am really happy to see Steve. _

Bucky's contentment mixes with V's wonder to create a rather distracting wave of emotion through Bucky's brain. He breathes through the storm of emotion slowly and refocuses on Steve. “What did you want to ask?”

Steve's brow had furrowed again while Bucky was working through the strong emotions, but it smoothed out again when Bucky reminded him of his question. “You don't have to accept, and I completely understand if you don't. It's not a problem at all if you say no…”

“Steve, spit it out. I can't say yes or no until you actually ask me.”

Steve ducks his head for a few seconds before starting again, “Okay, okay. Do you want to come back with me? I have a place lined up in the States, and I would love it if you would stay with me.”

Bucky stares at Steve for a few seconds in silent surprise.

**Yes. We want to stay with Steve.**

Steve jumps off the couch and shrieks, “What was that!?” As he rapidly sweeps the apartment for the source of the other voice, Bucky has to get his attention by grabbing his arm.

“Steve! Sorry, that was Venom. They can talk out loud, apparently.” Bucky rolls his eyes at Venom's failure to inform him of that fact.

Steve calms down and takes a few deep breaths before asking, “Um, okay. Did he answer for both of you?”

“Yes, I do want to stay with you now that I've finally gotten to see you again.”

Steve's face breaks into a genuine grin, and Bucky can't help but return the smile.


	13. Chapter Twelve

“A safehouse? Who else do I need to be safe from? We killed or incapacitated everybody who could have been a threat.” 

“We need to wait to go back to the States. Just for a bit longer, Bucky. I need to make sure our gracious host is ready.”

“Who's our host, Steve? I'm surprised you don't have your own place.” 

“I do have my own apartment, but the facilities can't exactly handle two super soldiers. And our host has enough resources and connections to help with your… with your recovery.”

Bucky winces. “I guess I could use some downtime and better food. V needs a lot of food.”

** _Hungry. Always hungry._ **

_ I know. Sorry, bud. _

“Speaking of that, are we getting close? We'll need to eat again soon.”

Steve glances over from the driver's seat to pass a concerned look. “I think you eat more than I do, Buck. Do you know anything about special care for Venom? Do you need any medications or something?”

“Honestly, I'm not sure. Hydra supplemented my diet with intravenous nutrition and didn't tell me a lot about Venom. Usually Hydra forced Venom out of my head with some kind of injection, so we're not too fond of drugs now. Venom assures me that I'm a good host, whatever that means, but I don't know anything specific about what Venom does to my body.”

** _Make us strong. Protect us. Protect host._ **

“Besides protect us and heal us quickly. We seemed to be doing fine when I was caring for us alone, but I didn't have a lot of time for check-ins.”

“If you're up for it, my connection in the States can offer some medical support and look into what's actually going on with your body. The data from the collapse of SHIELD and Hydra didn't describe you very much and didn't mention Venom at all. Most of the files only list you as equipment during an operation,” Steve's face stiffens in anger for a few seconds before Bucky distracts him from Hydra's dehumanizing terminology surrounding the Asset.

“I don't think the techs ever asked what Venom was called. They just said 'the symbiote.’”

“Yeah, 'symbiote’ wasn't mentioned in the files either.”

“Okay, who is our host? Why are you avoiding telling me who it is?”

Steve frowned at the road, “Because I was worried you wouldn't want to come with me if I told you.” Steve sighs noisily before finally explaining, “Tony Stark is letting us stay at the Avengers Tower after we get cleared to cross the Atlantic.”

“Oh, Tony. Does… does he know about the assassinations?”

“Of Howard and Maria? Yes, the Hydra hit was in the files that Natasha put on the internet. He knows you were brainwashed, Bucky.”

“He's still going to be upset. Are you sure he's okay with me coming to the tower?”

“Yes, he invited both of us. If he can't handle it, we can leave, but he seemed to be dealing with the whole Hydra ordeal about as well as the rest of us.”

Bucky settles back into his seat and even reclines in it. He doesn't expect to be able to sleep in the car, but he wants to be a bit more comfortable. The horrid memory of his attack on Howard and Maria rises to the front of his mind. His guilt weighs heavily on the memory, and Venom's curiosity pokes it softly.

** _Why guilty?_ **

“Howard was a friend. I knew him during the war.”

** _Did not know. Could not stop._ **

“I know, buddy. I didn't even recognize them when the mission went down. Neither of us could have stopped Hydra at that point.”

Bucky finally notices that Steve is glancing over with a quizzical look. “Are you talking to Venom? Both Tony and I know that you weren't in control of your actions then.”

“Yeah, I was talking to V. Sorry, I didn't notice I was talking out loud.”

“It's fine. I'm only a little confused since I can't see the other conversation partner,” Steve remarks as they pull into an unmarked gravel road. 

** _Can fix that._ **

Bucky feels smooth tendrils move across and out of his chest. One spiderwebs over the stump of his left arm and begins to take the shape of the usual black arm. The rest run over his body like prominent veins. The car abruptly stops when Steve notices the movement.

“Oh, whoa? Is that Venom?” Steve throws the car in park and turns to take Bucky's arm. One tendril floats around Bucky to face them both and first forms a vicious grin full of teeth. White eye spots grow above the grin into milky white slits.

**We are Venom.** The sharp grin speaks in a growling, rasping voice.

Steve jumps back into his seat, even rocking the car a bit. “Holy shit,” he exclaims while studying the black and white visage from more of a distance.

“Huh, I've never seen Venom's face like this. We could have been talking like this the whole time, bud?”

The milky eyes turn to Bucky, and the grin curves slowly upward.  **Easier to talk inside head. Easier to understand.**

Steve watches Venom's face for a few seconds longer before looking down at the crawling tendrils of slime moving over Bucky's arm and body. Steve can only see the black crisscrossing Bucky's arm, but he suspects more tentacles are sliding over Bucky's body because his shirt and pants shift occasionally.

“Did Hydra create Venom?” Steve asks as he moves a hand tentatively to take Bucky's arm again.

**No, we are not from Hydra. We are not from Earth.**

Venom answers as a few small tendrils form out of the solid black arm on Bucky's left side. The little lines of slime tangle with Steve's curious fingers. 

**We were found by the Life Foundation. My kind were destroyed. Scientists left us in poor hosts. Many died. All died except Venom.**

Steve watches Venom's face turn to gaze out the windshield during their little recount. Their full mouth of teeth closes in a distant frown.

“I'm sorry. It must be lonely being the last of your kind here.” Steve releases Bucky's arm and drops his hand onto the center console of the car. The tendrils retreat back into the smooth bulk of the black arm. Venom's face also retreats into Bucky's side along with the writhing tentacles over the rest of Bucky's body. The black arm is the last to fade into Bucky's shoulder, and Venom's mix of emotions fill Bucky's head.

Venom's sadness and loneliness come to the forefront, but Bucky also notes their curiosity and happiness towards Steve. Venom is upset by the reminder of their past, but, as Steve brings the car up to the safehouse, they are also excited for the future.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

Unloading the car is quick, since neither Bucky nor Steve have many possessions. The safehouse is a single floor, nondescript house with two bedrooms, bathroom, and a combined kitchen and living area. 

“Small, but more comfortable than I expected,” Steve comments and sits on the couch covered in a dull fabric.

Bucky is in the kitchen, throwing together something reasonably edible. After Bucky brings out the first platefuls of food, Steve moves over on the couch to allow Bucky some space. As Bucky sits, his black arm forms and grabs a few morsels of food. Bucky eats them from the pointed tips of the hand but then changes to the fork he had brought with him.

“Can you feel everything with that arm?” Steve queries in between bites.

Bucky sets his plate in his lap and stretches out the dark appendage in front of him. “Kind of? I feel everything through Venom, so it's dulled. Usually it's like a sympathetic feeling. When you watch someone jam their finger into the edge of a table and you automatically wince and imagine how it feels. Or when you watch a good pitcher during a baseball game, and you can feel the muscles involved in the throw.”

“Hmm, I think I get it. Do you mind if I touch it? I didn't really ask in the car.”

“It's fine. I actually think V likes it,” Bucky answers slowly. “They're used to using the arm to punch and to hurt. I think they like the change in sensations.”

Steve looks down shyly, a little red coloring the tips of his ears. They both grab a couple more servings and finish the meal in companionable silence. Steve cleans and wipes off his plate first before putting it back into cabinets above the sink.

“I'm headed to bed. We should only be here for a few days while Tony organizes our transport. He's sending a Quinjet. I don't know if he’ll send it with a pilot or automated. We'll see. If you need anything, I’ll be in the other bedroom. Good night, Bucky. I’m glad you decided to come with me to the tower.” Steve smiles lightly and strides off to the bedroom.

Bucky watches Steve leave with his own soft smile, and he feels V swirl around in his body.

** _Host is happy. We are happy._ **

_ Yeah, bud. We are happy. Apparently I missed Steve more than I thought. How do you like him? I guess this is the first time you’ve actually seen him in person. You’ve only seen my memories of him before. _

Bucky chews the last of his food while chatting silently with V.

** _Good for host. Steve makes us feel good. Stay with Steve. _ **

Venom shares his reactions to Steve, even though Bucky still remembers them from the encounter and the conversation in the car. Since Bucky often revisited his memories of Steve while on his own, Venom has plenty of good associations with the man. Venom shares their surprise and curiosity at the first meeting and the soft affection they feel from Steve’s acceptance of them. Bucky catches most of the emotions that Venom shares, but some images and thoughts don’t seem to translate well. Goosebumps break out across his body as the emotions wash through him. After resurfacing at the sight of Steve, Venom had watched silently as Bucky and Steve had talked for a while. They share their observations with Bucky now. Bucky takes his plate to the sink and scoffs as he begins washing it.

_ Huh, you think Steve would make a good host?  _ During Venom’s sharing, he had gleaned that Venom saw Steve’s body like they saw Bucky’s, in terms of survival and compatibility. Venom seems embarrassed now, and Bucky tries to communicate his amusement instead of offense.

_ It’s all right, V. Steve also has the serum, a more effective version of it at that.  _

Bucky shares the images of Steve before the serum, thin and sickly. The shock of seeing Steve so strong and big during his rescue at Alonso filters through their bond as well.

** _Bucky is the best host. Steve is good for Bucky, but Bucky good for Venom._ **

The symbiote pushes their affection and gratefulness for Bucky into his mind.

_ Well, Steve and I aren’t really like you and me. Steve can’t get under my skin in quite the same way.  _

Memories of Steve’s ribbing and annoying tendencies to fight make Bucky laugh at his own joke. He finishes cleaning up the kitchen and switches off lights as he heads to the bedroom. Venom pulls them towards Steve’s door, but Bucky stops abruptly.

_ Um, no. We have our own room, V. _

He turns to the other bedroom and gets the door open.

** _Be with Steve. Be together._ **

_ We are together, V. Just not in the same room. _

** _Host not complete without Steve._ **

_ Complete? What are you talking about? _

Bucky wears a quizzical look while he undresses for the night. The exhaustion of the day is finally catching up with him. He yawns widely and climbs under the covers. Before Venom gets around to clarifying his thoughts, they also share their exhaustion and encouragement for sleep.

** _Steve good for Bucky like Venom is good for Bucky. When together, complete. All together, host is complete._ ** Venom’s words fade into vague feelings and blurry images.

_ Well, I still don’t really understand what you’re saying, but it seems like we both need some shut-eye. Good night, Venom. _

** _Good night, Bucky._ **


	15. Chapter Fourteen

Bucky wakes up groggily to find Venom sliding over his body. He went to sleep only in his boxers, and Venom’s black tentacles writhe over most of his skin. Stretching and moving up to sit at the headboard, he hears Steve puttering around in the kitchen. A pan clanks onto the stove top, and Bucky assumes Steve is making eggs or pancakes for breakfast. 

_ Maybe he’s making eggs and pancakes.  _

Bucky almost always feels hungry, or Venom reminds him that they’re hungry. He watches Venom’s tentacles wrap and unwrap across his body for a few seconds. 

_ What are you doing, V? _

** _Always checking. Make sure host is safe. Make sure safe and healthy. _ **

Some tentacles retreat back under Bucky’s skin, but many still slide over the skin of Bucky’s legs, arms, and chest.

Bucky leaves the bedroom and heads to the bathroom. After completing his morning routine, most of Venom has retreated. Only the black arm and a few tentacles draping over their shoulders remain. They wander into the kitchen to see Steve finishing up a large pan of eggs.

“Hey, Buck. You sleep okay? Um, I heard some noises?” Steve is clearly concerned for Bucky, but he has no idea if the noises are actually a worry.

“Really? I slept like a log. I guess V was awake part of the night.” At this comment, Venom forms his head and sheepishly looks between Bucky and Steve.

**Don’t sleep. Sorry. Try not to be loud.**

Steve watches Venom carefully, “You don’t keep Bucky up that way?”

Venom extends their “neck” further and shakes their head slowly. 

**No, Bucky sleeps. Don’t bother Bucky.**

“Yeah, I didn’t notice at all. I have no idea if Venom should be sleeping at all, anyway. Do symbiotes sleep?” Bucky gets Venom’s attention by waving a hand in front of their face as they wander around Bucky’s body.

**A little. Sleep not always important. Care for host while asleep. Always checking.**

After that comment, Venom’s head returns to Bucky’s body, but the tendrils over his shoulders remain.

Steve shrugs and hands Bucky a full plate of eggs. “There’s also some cut up fruit in the fridge when we’re done with the eggs. Tony texted me and said the Quinjet should be arriving early evening. He sent the plane remotely, but we’ll video-call on the trip over, if you want.”

“Yes, I should talk to Tony as soon as possible. It’s probably a better idea to get everything out in the open before we get to the tower,” Bucky says while chewing through a few mouthfuls. Bucky looks over to his left shoulder as the scrape of teeth close to his skin show Venom’s head reforming out of his shoulder blade. Several lines of slime seem to drip between V’s neck and the black arm at Bucky’s side. Venom finishes reforming, and Bucky realizes they’re reacting to the talk of Tony.

**We didn't know. We would have fought more, if we remembered. If remembered Bucky’s friends. Hydra made us forget. Made us forget even Steve. Hydra separated us. Kept from memories. Could not help. **

Venom slinks closer and closer to Bucky’s shoulder as they speak, seemingly trying to hide in shame even while finishing their confession.

“It’s okay, Venom. Hey, don’t worry,” Steve approaches Venom’s face and Bucky’s dark arm, “It’s neither of your faults. Hydra tortured you and brainwashed you. You were a prisoner and treated like a thing, a weapon without a will.” Steve reaches out and grabs the dark arm. Several tentacles roil out of the arm and wind around Steve’s. His eyes widen, but, when he takes a step back, the tendrils follow and continue to connect Steve to the black arm. Bucky dully feels Steve’s skin through the connection and even starts to feel the surprise so clearly evident on Steve’s face. Steve’s voice wavers as he rambles, “Whoa, um. Venom, is that you? Wow, I think I can feel their emotions. Is this what the connection is always like between you two?”

Venom’s tentacles slosh off of Steve’s arm and return to Bucky after a few more seconds.

Bucky watches the dark arm disintegrate into his shoulder before he answers Steve, “Yeah, they usually share their emotions with me.” Bucky feels the remnants of Venom’s shame from the previous conversation, but now V is mostly sharing their interest in and reactions to Steve’s body. 

Most of their comments are unintelligible praise for Steve’s health and fitness as a host. Bucky actually blushes at the thoughts that Venom shares. They imagine moving in Steve’s body and the unself-conscious praise makes Bucky feel a bit unappreciated. Venom eventually picks up on these doubts, and they start flashing images and emotions associated with Bucky. Venom’s fierce loyalty and praise of Bucky’s body makes Bucky blush even harder.

“What’s happening now? Why are you all red?” Steve actually looks worried, as if he thinks the partial bond with Venom had caused some issue with Bucky.

“Nothing, nothing bad.” Bucky is quick to respond, but, when he doesn’t elaborate, V pushes out from Bucky’s belly and through the fabric of his shirt and answers for him.

**Good host. Steve is a good host. Steve so strong and big. But, Bucky is my host. Always my host, as long as we want.**

Venom opens their mouth wide, and their tongue curls along Bucky’s jaw, as the symbiote looks up towards Bucky’s head. Bucky winces at the slobber from their tongue. After the affectionate lick, Venom goes back under Bucky’s skin. Bucky uses his hand to wipe off the slimy lick from his jaw. As he finishes cleaning off his face, he hears Steve stifle a few laughs.

“What? Do you want some symbiote slobber?” Bucky grumbles while he flicks off some droplets from his hand. Steve furiously shakes his head and tries to keep his mouth shut. “Yuck!” Bucky exclaims when a line of drool drips off his pinkie. While his mouth is open, he feels his tongue push past his lips. He stares in shock as his tongue lengthens and lengthens away from his mouth. It finally stops going about a foot and a half from his face, and its pointed tip is dangerously close to Steve’s face.

Steve has about a second to watch Bucky move the new appendage around, and then a mischievous grin stretches across Bucky’s open mouth. Steve thinks he even sees Bucky’s teeth turn a bit sharp. 

“Bucky! Gross!” Steve yelps as the tongue slides up his cheek and past his forehead.

After the lick, the tongue retreats back into Bucky’s mouth, and Bucky starts laughing hysterically. Steve stares in shock and disgust as Bucky doubles over. Bucky is still stifling some chuckles as he hands Steve a towel from the kitchen. Huffing a few laughs of his own, Steve wipes off his face before complaining, “Come on, it wasn’t that funny.”

“Oh, believe me. Your face was hilarious!” Bucky is quick to reply with a snort.

The rest of the day, while the two double-check their readiness to leave, both men can’t help but smile and smirk at each other about the symbiote’s antics.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

Bucky's single backpack of possessions and Steve's two duffel bags sit next to the couch in the living room. While Steve is putting away the dishes from their early dinner, Bucky is lounging on the couch. He's not doing much besides staring into space, but Venom is occasionally ruffling his shirt by running a tendril of slime over his body. A chime sounds from Steve's pants, and he grabs his phone, while closing the cupboard door.

“ETA two minutes. The jet's landing in the clearing out front,” Steve relates and moves towards the couch. Bucky sits up, and Venom sends out tentacles from their shoulders to pick up and put on the backpack. Both men trudge out onto the front lawn as the approaching Quinjet powers down and lands. 

_ Better stay hidden for a bit, V. We'll tell Tony about you later, after we make sure everything's good. _

** _Understand._ **

“Hello, sirs. Shall I start the safehouse shut down procedures?” A disembodied voice asks politely from inside the Quinjet. 

“Yes, Jarvis. We're ready to go,” Steve responds and sets down his bags in the cargo bay.

Bucky turns his head to catch the lights flick out and metal shutters cover the windows of the safehouse. As he sets his backpack against Steve's bags, he queries, “Who was that? Is that the pilot?”

“I am Jarvis. I am an artificial intelligence program designed by Tony Stark. I will be charting your flight plan this evening, so I am a pilot of sorts.”

Steve slides into one of the chairs at the front of the jet and smiles at Bucky's curious expression. Bucky moves towards the front to join him.

“Jarvis, huh? I'm Bucky. It's nice to meet you.”

“A pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Sergeant Barnes.”

Bucky winces at the use of his formal title. “I haven't been an acting Sergeant in a while. If 'Bucky’ is too informal for you, call me James or something.”

Jarvis replies, “Of course, sir. Your preference for address has been noted.”

Bucky takes the seat next to Steve and notices Steve's dopey grin. “What are you smiling at?”

“You're handling Jarvis a lot better than I did at first. Tony had to remove Jarvis's access to my room for a few weeks because I kept breaking things whenever Jarvis relayed a notification.” The jet begins to lift off the ground and move out of the clearing.

“I guess I'm used to unexplained voices at this point,” Bucky jokes.

Steve opens his mouth to react to Bucky's quip, but he seems to change his mind. His smile fades for a second as he requests, “Jarvis, can you enter privacy mode on this trip?”

“Of course, Captain Rogers. Would you like me to enable it?”

“Please, and can you remove Bucky's last sentence from your records?”

“James's last comment has been removed from my conversation history records.”

“Thanks, Jarvis. Are you going to tell Tony about Venom during the video call?

“I don't know. Probably not? I assumed we would address the other elephant in the room after making sure Tony is all right with me staying at the tower.”

“That's what I thought. Jarvis has his own discretion to share what he hears from conversations with the Avengers. I've never known him to share secrets or anything but better safe than sorry.”

Bucky nods at Steve's words.

“We'll be calling Tony after we reach cruising altitude over the ocean. So… in about two hours. Better get comfortable. Even with Tony's advancements to the Quinjet, we still have a long flight ahead of us.”

As Bucky stretches and settles into his seat, he feels Venom uneasily twist his gut.

_ What's up, V? Why are you feeling antsy? _

** _Will others like us like Steve does? When with Steve, felt his shock. His fear. Don't want to scare Bucky's friends._ **

_ I guarantee Tony's seen weirder shit than you, V. He might be surprised, but I don't think you would be the reason for Tony not liking me. In fact, Tony might be too curious for his own good. _

Bucky's mind pulls up some fleeting images of doctor's offices and medical procedures, which causes Venom to roil with nervous energy.

** _Don't like others studying us. Don't like exams._ **

_ Me neither. I don't think Tony will be too pushy, and I don't think his exams will be anything like Hydra's. And Steve will intervene if Tony bothers us. _

** _Ok. Feel better with Steve._ **

* * *

Bucky lets Venom share their excitement and interest through the bond, and he's so invested in Venom's sharing that he jumps when Steve touches his arm.

“Oh, sorry, Buck. We can call Tony now. If you want. We can also wait and talk to Tony later.”

After shaking his head to clear his mind, Bucky glances over at Steve, and his face hardens with resolve.

“No, I should talk to Tony now. Better get this over with.”

“Jarvis, can you queue up the call?”

“Already dialing, gentlemen. Sir is not immersed in a project at the moment, and I felt calling as soon as possible was best.”

The line rings for a few seconds. Jarvis brings up a projection of the workshop floor. Tony is nowhere in sight, but clangs and other odd noises come through the audio feed immediately.

“Ah, yes, my two favorite metahumans. What's up? Jarvis flying the jet alright?” Tony’s disembodied voice asks. He may be behind one of the desks, but it’s difficult to pinpoint where the voice is coming from.

“Yes, Tony, everything's fine with the Quinjet. We're calling about a different matter,” Steve elaborates while glancing at Bucky nervously.

“Well, what is it? Spit it out.” A loud clang and some rustling punctuates Tony's words. His head finally pops up from behind a desk after a few moments of silence.

Bucky swallows harshly before speaking, “Hello, Tony. I just… I wanted to call and talk to you. I wanted to make sure you were actually up to housing a… wanted criminal.” 

Steve looks ready to butt in, but Tony beats him to it. 

“First of all, you're officially classified as a prisoner of war, so I'm not harboring any criminals to my knowledge. Second of all, I've seen the Hydra info on you. The Asset is not James Buchanan Barnes, and Jarvis informed me that you call yourself Bucky now. Not very intimidating in my opinion,” Tony tapers off.

“But, you know I was sent after Howard and Maria, right? I understand if that's too difficult to handle. It can't be easy talking to your parents’... killer,” Bucky's face falls, and he looks down at the hand in his lap.

Tony heaves a noisy sigh. “I have to admit, I'm a little upset that Hydra forced my father's old friend to kill him. And my mother didn't deserve to get tangled up in whatever made Hydra go after my dad. But I've been told that Hydra has been officially burned to the ground. So I'm more upset that I can't punch those monsters for the shit they did to you. Honestly,” Tony held up his right hand in a pledge of truth, “no hard feelings between us. You are welcome to the tower and any medical care you need. That includes therapy, ya know? Did wonders for the Spangled Man.”

Steve sputters, “Well, I wouldn't say wonders, but I get along with Dr. Kessernich just fine.”

Tony quips, “He's just being modest. After my little breakdown, I wanted all the Avengers to actually get checked out. Since Fury doesn't seem to care about any of us, we'll take care of our own.”

Bucky exchanges a hesitant look with Steve. “Maybe later? I don't think I'm up to seeing any doctors right now.”

“Of course, of course, no problem. Now I'll leave you to enjoy the best way to travel. You know what, Jarvis bring up a movie. I'm thinking Disney. You two had that back in your day right? Oh! Jarvis put on  _ Enchanted _ . In fact, start playing it here in the shop, too. Gotta love Amy Adams. See you later, nonagenarians.” With that, Tony's voice cut off with a crisp click and the beginnings of the Disney opening notes start.

“Are we really going to watch Tony's movie selection?” Steve watches the opening scenes with skepticism.

“We’ve got the time to kill. How bad could it be? It's a fairy tale movie like Snow White.”

Even after a few movies from Steve's list, Bucky was still singing parts of the “Happy Working Song” during their final descent into New York.


	17. Chapter Sixteen

The Quinjet lands on the helipad outside the Avengers Tower, and Steve and Bucky walk out onto the common floor.

“Welcome, sirs. Captain Rogers, your floor has been cleaned and prepared for your arrival. James, there is a room available in Captain Rogers’ suite for you or you may take your own floor above the Captain,” Jarvis greets both men during their entrance.

“My own floor? I don't think that's necessary. Unless you don't want a roommate, Steve?” Bucky looks bewildered at the offer of his own quarters.

“I don't mind you staying with me, Buck,” Steve answers quickly. “But, you can have your own privacy. You don't have to hang around me if you don't want to.”

“I've spent at least 70 years away from you, Steve. I don't think you could drag me from your side now.”

** _Stay with Steve. Keep Steve with us._ **

Bucky is not exactly shocked by Venom's agreement, since they have enjoyed Steve's company so far. Venom chiming in also reminds Bucky of some of his questions about life in the tower.

“So, Jarvis, I'll be staying with Steve for now.”

“Certainly, James. Captain Rogers’ quarters can easily accommodate more residents.”

“... And I was wondering about your discretion protocols on Steve's floor and in my room,” Bucky adds.

“Captain Rogers' has enabled vitals monitoring and voice-activated assistance in the public areas of the floor. I never record audiovisual data in the bathrooms of the tower, and Captain Rogers has deactivated voice monitoring and all recording in his bedroom. Would you like similar protocols in your room?”

“Yes, please.”

Steve speaks up after Bucky seems content with the other protocols in place. “Jarvis, can you disable the voice recording and audio data protocols on the public areas of the suite as well? I would prefer if you no longer store any data from my quarters while Bucky is there, even for your learning algorithms.”

“Your protocols have been updated, Captain Rogers. From now on, I will only monitor vital signs for safety and security reasons. I will continue to be available to assist you with any other requests, but any voice monitoring for your call will not be stored or analyzed in any way.”

Steve nods resolutely and begins walking to the elevator. Bucky jogs over to keep up with Steve since he was looking over the common room for a few seconds.

The elevator arrives with no button required, and both men step in. “Take us to my floor now, Jarvis,” Steve commands, and the elevator begins to move downward.

“Thanks for setting up the protocols for me.”

Steve glances over at Bucky, and a small smile crinkles Steve's eyes. “No problem, Buck. I figured you'd want to talk freely in our place. I'm more familiar with Jarvis's security features, so I knew what to ask for.”

Bucky nods, and the elevator slows only a couple floors from the common room.

Steve steps out first. Bucky is quick to follow, but he stops dead in the entryway at the sight of Steve's apartment. Floor to ceiling windows surround a wide living area with a spacious couch and several bookshelves. A massive white rug sits under most of the space, only showing the gleaming hardwood floors on the edges, which continue into a hallway leading to the right. After gaping at the size of the living space, Bucky finally moves down the hallway. A partial wall opens up to a full kitchen on one wall with a dining table on the other side. The dark wood table and chairs stand over another large rug that ends at the smooth tile of the kitchen. As Bucky continues down the hall, he finds a luxurious bathroom with a huge bathtub (more like a jacuzzi, he thinks) next to a spacious shower. Across the soft blue tiling is a balcony marble counter with a double sink. Backing out of the bathroom’s entryway, Bucky finds the first bedroom with Steve sitting on the monstrous mattress.

Steve waves sheepishly from the bed, “Yeah, it's a bit much for my taste. Your bedroom is across the hall.” Bucky turns around and wanders into his room.

“Wow,” Bucky breathes in amazement. His bed is just as large as Steve's, and he finds a large dresser and sturdy work desk in his room as well. He returns to the hall, and the end of it has a sizable study. Steve has it set up as a studio, and a tableau with paints next to an easel is the first thing Bucky notices. A few finished paintings and drawings hang around the space. As Bucky returns to the hallway, Steve meets him halfway.

“Is your bedroom all right? Any special requests? Jarvis can get practically anything you ask for,” Steve mentions while they both walk back into Bucky's room.

“I think we're good for now.” Bucky feels a prickling under his skin.

** _Can come out?_ **

_ Oh, yeah. Sure, bud. It's safe here. _

Bucky feels his black arm fill out his left side, and then he scrunches up his shoulder when he feels a drop of drool over his head. He glances up to notice Venom's head and lulling tongue over him.

“Gross, V. Can you try to keep your slobber in your mouth.”

**Sorry.**

Venom's toothy grin spreads into an open-mouthed smirk.

Bucky notices Steve's movement as he steps back from Venom's form.

“You okay, Steve?” Bucky watches Steve’s eyes wander over Venom’s form, while the symbiote looks around the apartment for themself. 

“Hmm? Yeah, yes. I’m just a little… unnerved by Venom?”

“Understandable, since you haven’t had years to get used to their ugly mug.”

**We are not ugly.** Venom replies grumpily. 

The slime of the thin neck connecting them to Bucky begins to fill out, and more and more inky blackness forms under Venom’s head. A tall, bulky body completes Venom’s form. Lines of white veins wrap around bulging muscles and emphasize their strength. Their bulk forces Steve and Bucky to take a few steps back. 

Bucky stares up at V. Their height forces him to tilt his head back to see Venom’s milky white eyes. “Is this what we look like when you cover me completely?” 

Although Venom has no pupils, Bucky can feel their eyes turn to him.

**Yes. We look strong and pretty. Not ugly.**

Venom’s talking reveals their multiple rows of sharp teeth. Feeling they have proved their point, Venom retracts their mass and returns to hovering over Bucky’s left shoulder.

“The word is handsome. We look handsome. And badass,” Bucky comments with a playful smile.

“It doesn’t hurt when he moves out of your skin, does it?” Bucky refocuses on Steve’s perpetual worry.

“No, I don’t really feel anything when they do that,” Bucky answers before walking out of his room again.

“Why do you call Venom ‘they’?” Both Steve and Bucky, with Venom overhead, move into the kitchen and dining area.

“It’s always seemed more natural to think of V as a ‘they.’ Since they aren’t human, they don’t exactly have human gender.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Steve nods, but his curious expression persists.

“Do you have more questions?” Bucky says while pulling out some pans and a cutting board.

“Yes, actually.”


	18. Chapter Seventeen

“So, you said Venom healed your body and your memories. How does that work?”

Bucky is chopping some vegetables and preparing some food for everyone while Steve starts his good-natured inquiry.

“Well, I’m not entirely sure, and this seems like something V would struggle to explain if we asked them to try, but we’ll try our best. Essentially, Venom permeates every cell of my body. Their black ooze thins down to the micrometer, and less, in thickness. Since they’re around every cell, they can manipulate my cellular functions. They accelerate all types of healing, regrow cells and tissue for me, and enhance my cells beyond their already serum-boosted strength. They also seem to use my neurochemical pathways to communicate with me, since I occasionally feel their emotions and thoughts.” As Bucky explains, Venom slowly circulates under his skin, soothingly reminding him of their presence.

“Like when they bonded with me? For that short time at the safe house?”

“Yes, although I think V was holding back on you. From what I could feel from secondhand reactions, V was only sharing a few emotions with you. Sometimes, they overwhelm me with their reactions and powerful emotions. When you first showed up in Bucharest, V hadn’t been speaking with me much at all. Then you barge in, and V is throwing thoughts and emotions all over the place.”

“I distinctly remember you pulling me in. But anyway, is that why you immediately fell onto the couch?”

“Yeah, it was kinda difficult to handle your arrival alongside V’s reappearance.”

A few sparks of regret filter through the bond, but mostly Venom shares his depressed and utterly exhausted feelings from before Steve’s arrival. Healing Bucky had apparently taken a lot out of them. Bucky replies with some quick bursts of gratitude while continuing to cook their meal.

“Venom also mentioned that I was a good host back at the safe house. Do you know what that means?” Steve awkwardly fidgets with his hands and looks away from Bucky when he turns away from the steaming pan to answer.

“That whole good host thing, I understand even less about it. Although… way back when Hydra first introduced us, I had some weird dreams that may have been Venom’s memories. One featured someone who died and me slipping out of them. I think that is what happens to bad hosts.” Bucky sets the spatula he was using to stir off to the side of the stovetop. Instead of clarifying Bucky’s guesses about their past, Venom only sends pangs of guilt through the bond.

Bucky startles at Steve’s touch on his arm. “Sorry, Buck. You seemed a little far away. Are you all right?”

Bucky wipes his face with his right hand in frustration before answering, “Yeah, V just won’t take about the time before me. I know they feel guilty, but that’s all I’m getting.”

Steve gently rubs along Bucky’s arm until a few spots of slime catch on his hand. He seems a little disconcerted about the texture of Venom and withdraws his hand slowly. The few lines of slime still clinging to Steve’s skin stretch and break before returning to Bucky completely. Steve sighs heavily before settling his hands in his pockets.

“I think that’s all my questions for now. I honestly don’t think you made enough food for both of us, since your appetite is even bigger than mine, so I am going to the common floor. You also seem like you might need some alone time, or as alone as it gets.”

“Okay, have Jarvis tell me when you’re coming back?”

“Sure, of course.” Steve gently pats Bucky’s flesh shoulder once before heading out the hallway to the elevator.

Sighing heavily, Bucky picks up a plate of food and settles at the dining table. Venom seems to be avoiding the earlier talk of hosts, but Bucky decides to humor them and drop the topic, as he starts digging into the meal.

** _Why did Steve leave? He should always be with us._ **

_ Steve is a different person. He might need some space sometimes. _

** _He always has space. He is distant from us until he touches us._ **

_ True, but humans also need more space sometimes. A lot of space can calm us down or give us room to think. _

** _Thinking takes no extra room. Humans are weird._ **

Bucky scoffs into his food at that comment.

** _But he is yours? Steve is yours, so we should be close to him. _ **

_ What? I don’t own Steve.  _

Bucky can feel Venom’s waves of frustration at trying to communicate their ideas. 

** _Bucky happy with Steve. Happiest with Steve. Steve makes us happiest, strongest, best. Like Venom makes Bucky strongest. Venom has Bucky, and Bucky should have Steve. _ ** As a blush comes to Bucky’s skin, he feels Venom’s growing confusion at his reactions.

** _Why is Bucky ashamed?_ **

_ That’s not really how people talk about their friends, V. You make it sound like I’m only ever happy with Steve, so we should always be together. _

** _Not only. But most. Most happy with Steve._ **

To try to explain better, Venom shares recaps of Bucky’s feelings of happiness. They cycle through the old, worn memories of Steve before Hydra and a few happy memories of the Howlies before Steve rescued him at Alonso. Then they share the little triumphs, their recovery, and last battles with Hydra. Bucky notices a theme that Venom is pushing at him. Although the good memories without Steve are still happy, Bucky is noticeably more carefree and positive around Steve. Even when Steve first showed up in Bucharest and Bucky’s memory is tinged with worry about their safety, Bucky was bursting with happiness at the first sight of Steve since the helicarriers.

Since he’s finished their meal, Bucky gets up to clean the dishes. He pushes a request of sorts for patience while he absorbs Venom’s explanation. After drying the last dish, Bucky comes back to their earlier discussion.

_ Steve and I are still different from you and me, Venom. Sure, I’m happy around Steve in similar ways to how you are happy with me, but I like to be… close to Steve occasionally. Not all the time like I am with you. _

** _Steve is not the same as Venom is. Steve is more important to us._ **

Bucky automatically agrees with Venom’s assertion before he realizes its consequences. He has a lot to take in from this revelation.


	19. Chapter Eighteen

“James? Captain Rogers? Are you willing to accept guests at this time?”

Bucky looks up from his book on the couch at Jarvis's inquiry. When he glances over at Steve at the other side of the couch, he raises an eyebrow in expectancy of Steve's answer.

Steve only sits in confusion, so Bucky decides to intervene.

“Sure, Jarvis. We're not doing anything important right now.”

Steve seems a bit surprised by Bucky’s willingness to let other people in, but both Bucky and Venom have gotten bored with the standard routine with Steve. 

Wake up to Steve moving about the apartment to prepare for his run in the morning, catch some more sleep before getting up to make breakfast or share Steve’s breakfast, do calisthenics or head to the gym, and spend the afternoon reading before dinner, maybe watch a movie with Steve afterwards. Venom especially was getting antsy in the apartment. Meaning, they annoyed Bucky or spread out tendrils throughout the apartment to explore, or to break things. Guests might be a good distraction for the symbiote. At least guests would make Venom behave for a bit.

“Hello nonagenarians! So sorry for not getting up here sooner but, you know, world-changing engineering and science happening up here,” Tony waltzes in while wildly spinning his fingers around his head.

Pepper follows behind at a more sedate pace and corrects “Tony, we were at a series of fundraising events on the west coast, and you're banned from the lab since the last 72-hour incident.”

Bucky actually chuckles under his breath, but he tampers it down when he feels Steve's eyes on him. When he turns to check Steve's expression, he has a soft smile, and Bucky feels a curious swooping in his stomach that has nothing to do with the slimy symbiote under his skin.

** _Bucky, who is the loud man and the pretty smelling lady?_ **

_ You remember Tony, right? And the lady is Pepper. _

Bucky feels a strange amount of time pass before Venom remembers the video call with Tony. Since Venom has started talking more often with Bucky after Bucharest, he has noticed Venom's lapses in memory, mild fatigue, and persistent hungry. Bucky is not sure what's wrong, and Venom has been unwilling to discuss it. While their physical strength has not changed at all, Venom’s presence has steadily felt less crisp in Bucky’s mind. What was once a strong connection full of emotions and not-quite-verbal communication, is now a fuzzy smattering of weak emotions and confusing images. Whenever Bucky has to ask for clarification from Venom, which is becoming more frequent, V struggles to pull their thoughts together into something coherent.

“Pepper, you're not supposed to tell our guests that their host is banned from his own lab.” Tony's moping interrupts Bucky's worry.

“Hi, Tony. Hello, Pepper. It's lovely to see you again,” Steve offers to stem Tony's chatter.

“Why do I feel like that 'you’ is suspiciously singular?”

“Hello, Steve. Lovely to see you, too.” Pepper smiles back at Steve and ignores Tony. She turns to Bucky next, “How are you settling in, James?”

Bucky clears his throat when he feels all the eyes in the room turn to him. He sets down his book and responds hesitantly, “Fine, thanks. The tower is incredible. We love the gym.” 

“Oh, is Steve finally using my state-of-the-art, specifically-tailored-to-superheroes equipment? Took him long enough to get over the absurdly long outdoor runs that are a security risk.” 

Bucky winces at his pronoun slip up. He has gotten accustomed to saying “we” around Steve, and now he's potentially roped Steve into using the gym for a few weeks. He glances sympathetically over to Steve but only finds the blonde rolling his eyes at Tony. Apparently, he's rolling with Bucky's slip up without complaint.

“I only go with Bucky so he’s not alone in the gym. I still go outside for my runs, since I broke the last treadmill that was supposedly tailored to superheroes,” Steve teases.

“I swear this version is new and improved and can totally handle your ridiculous running speeds, Steve,” Tony huffs.

“Tony, we didn’t come up here to convince Steve to use the gym,” Pepper interjects and sits on the couch in between Bucky and Steve.

“Oh yes! Besides the wonderful improvements to the gym equipment, I have also finished setting up a medical wing for the Avengers. All the medical staff are thoroughly vetted, and many of them worked to remove the shrapnel and arc reactor from my chest,” Tony taps his now flesh and bone sternum during his spiel.

“I wanted to inform both the adrenaline junkie,” Tony's hand gestures to Steve, “and the new kid on the block,” his hand turns to Bucky, “that medical services are available.”

“Tony, most of the Avengers have enhanced biologies, so it’s not a good idea to expose those enhancements. A lot of people have already died trying to recreate the serum.”

Tony holds up his hand against Steve’s words. “When I say they’ve all been vetted, I mean that I trust them. Could you please make an effort to trust me about them? We need medical care, if not now then after a bad mission or something. The Avengers can’t function alone, and we can’t depend on Bruce’s field training to fix our bullet wounds. Because he said he’s not really qualified. I asked, and Bruce does not want to be the Avengers’ primary physician.”

Steve still has a worried crease between his brows, but he doesn’t protest anymore.

“Ugh, I hate being the object of the Stern Dad face. You’re not even my dad! Just, please take my word on it. We need medical experts taking care of us. What do you think about it, Bucky boy? You’ve been awful quiet about my awesome news.” Tony turns to Bucky expectantly.

Bucky looks back in silence for a few seconds. He is not prepared to talk about official Avengers business.

“It sounds like a good idea,” Bucky starts, “but Steve will probably have to watch them destroy any data they get on him before he lets them patch up his wounds. Have they worked on anybody else enhanced? Steve might be more willing if no leaks have happened with a previous patient.”

Tony scoffs at the idea of his team leaking information on the Avengers, but Pepper provides her opinion before Tony can sidestep Bucky’s suggestions.

“The staff has only worked on Clint and Tony. Clint is a normal human except his incredible eyesight. Tony had the arc reactor, but none of the staff got functional schematics on it, since they only had to know how to remove it. We’ve had no leaks about Tony no longer having the arc reactor in his chest, but the staff will definitely need more substantial information on Steve to work on him effectively. Information like how he metabolizes drugs. And sedatives. I know you were prepared for Steve’s worries, Tony, but our staff really is untested.”

Tony huffs unhappily, “But who can we test it on, if Steve won’t even consider it?”

** _Us._ **

_ V? Huh? Do you think we need medical care? _

** _Need help. Always hungry and can’t fix it._ **

_ Are you sure? _

** _Will have Steve to protect us. Will not need to fight alone._ **

Bucky and Venom’s conversation was quick, and Bucky speaks up almost immediately after Tony collapsed grumpily into the love seat across from the couch.

“I’ll do it. I’ll go to the medical wing.”

Steve’s head whips over, while Tony’s face went from sternly put-out to gleaming with excitement.

“Really?” Steve and Tony say at the same time but in completely different tones.

“Sure, I haven’t had a checkup since Hydra, if you call their experimentation checkups.”

Steve and Tony also wince at the same time at Bucky’s mention of Hydra.

Pepper turns toward Bucky, “When would you like to see the staff, Bucky? Since we’re doing this as a normal checkup, you can set up an appointment.”

“Is tomorrow too fast? I don’t really want to delay it any more than I have to.”

“Yes, tomorrow is fine. The staff are here testing all the equipment Tony provided, so they should be ready for basic checkups," Pepper says.

“Excellent! I’m glad someone around here trusts the billionaire who houses them,” Tony claps his hands together to wrap up the decision.

While Steve was listening to Bucky and Pepper’s conversation, he was calm with only a little worry about Bucky, but at Tony’s comment, his face turns stiff and angry again. Before he can inform Tony that he can leave the billionaire’s house at any time, Pepper gets up and heads back to the elevator.

“Before we overstay our welcome, I have a few meetings this afternoon to prepare for, and Tony should attend at least one to show the board he is still alive.”

Tony hops up from the love seat and follows Pepper quickly, “Yeah, yeah, we should get going. Thanks for letting us in, boys.”

Bucky waves lightly from the couch as Steve continues to glare at Tony before the elevator doors close.


	20. Chapter Nineteen

“Are you sure, Bucky? Are both of you sure?” Steve asks as soon as Tony and Pepper are out of sight.

“I’m giving the same answer as when Pepper asked, and V was actually the one to suggest we seek medical care.”

“What? Is something wrong?”

Venom forms slowly out of the once empty shirt-sleeve on Bucky’s left. Before their eyes and head fully coalesce, stray teeth and the beginnings of a tongue answer Steve.

**We are not sure. We are always hungry. Even when Bucky is satisfied, we hunger.**

Venom’s r’s vibrate their viscous form. They settle fully into the shape of their head, and the white slits of their eyes unmistakably focus on Steve. Steve reaches for Venom’s face, seemingly unconsciously, and Venom stretches towards his hand simultaneously. When Steve’s fingers brush the side of Venom’s jawline, they purr at the contact. Bucky watches hesitantly and is unsure how to interpret V’s reaction. Steve eventually pulls back after a couple strokes up and down V’s disembodied face, and a growing blush has begun to tinge his cheeks as V continued their loud purring.

**The hunger is not right. Hunger is dangerous. Makes it difficult to think.**

V continues his answer as if Steve’s touch never happened, but Bucky can feel their swelling emotion, warm and soft around the edges.

_ I’m asking about this later. _

In the midst of their warm reaction to Steve, V pays little attention to Bucky’s stray thought.

“So you think normal food is not enough? Should Bucky be eating my supplemental shakes as well?”

“We already eat more food than you, Steve. V makes it sound like more than a calorie problem.”

**Yes, we need more than energy. We need chemicals. Bucky makes tasty chemicals. Perfect host makes perfect chemicals.**

“Okay, buddy. Stop waxing poetic about me and my chemicals. It sounds like I may not be making enough chemicals. Do you know what kinds of chemicals? That might help the doctors figure out a supplement.”

V tilts their head for a few seconds and then begins to shake it while leaning closer to Steve.

**Do not know names. We know Bucky makes these chemicals. But not enough. Not always. Sometimes take too much.**

At the last admission, Venom moves their face away from the two super-soldiers.

“Too much? What do you mean?” Steve’s worried frown has returned.

**Accident. Always an accident. Hunger distracts us. Sometimes we take too much from Bucky. Hurt perfect host’s body. Always an accident. Stop soon as we realize.**

Venom’s head has steadily sunk down next to the couch during their confession, and their neck has slumped from Bucky’s shoulder down to his hip.

“What? How have you hurt me? I don’t feel any different.” Bucky takes stock of his body and confirms his suspicions. He feels no pain; nothing is out of place to him.

**We try to heal after. Never sure if it works. Why we need Tony’s friends. They will know more about damage. Very sorry to hurt host. Sorry. Always an accident.**

Bucky continues to feel the cold guilt of Venom through their bond, and he tries to comfort the symbiote with his vague emotions of acceptance and forgiveness.

“Do you remember if Hydra gave you any supplements?” Steve poses hesitantly. Bringing up Hydra usually makes both Steve and Venom angry, so they have been avoiding that topic.

“No. I remember they gave us IVs often, but I thought that was only the drugs that kept V out of my head. That shit kept V from healing me and kept us under their control.”

V’s head begins to swivel sharply, and a wave of hot anger pushes into Bucky’s thoughts. When V begins to growl and show their vicious teeth, Steve reaches out to run a soothing hand around their face again. The touch immediately quiets Venom, whose growls shift into stifled puffs of agitation.

“Believe me, V. We have pummeled Hydra into the ground. Not a soul can threaten you or Bucky anymore. Unfortunately, that means no intel remains on you two either.” Steve drops his hand. “Hydra had almost no data on you recorded, and I certainly couldn’t interrogate anyone, since they automatically went for the cyanide when they heard Captain America breached the perimeter.”

“Hydra never saw us coming, or they tried to recapture us.”

**They were never successful.**

Venom’s pride in their success at eradicating Hydra begins to outweigh their anger towards their old captures.

Before they can continue their discussion, Steve, Bucky, and Venom all turn their heads at the sound of the elevator’s ding.

“I apologize for failing to warn you, gentlemen. Sir has returned to your quarters without informing me,” Jarvis’s voice informs them from the ceiling with pointed annoyance.


	21. Chapter Twenty

Venom retreats so quickly into Bucky’s side that a slurping sound should have accompanied the movement.

Tony comes strolling out with a tablet in hand, and, luckily, he is looking down at the device instead of at super-soldiers.

“Tony, I should really kick you out for arriving unannounced. What do you need so urgently that you had to visit us twice in one day?” Steve glares at Tony while the man finally looks up from the tablet.

“Sorry, sorry. I just noticed something funky with the videos from your fights with the Asset and decided to ask the guy in person.”

“Videos? There are videos of me fighting Steve?” Bucky’s mind races with what Tony could possibly have seen.

“Yeah, most of them are too grainy and short to figure much out, but this one…” Tony briefly flips the tablet towards them without actually giving them enough time to see a frame, “... shows you with a left arm.” 

Tony looks pointedly at Bucky’s now empty shirt sleeve and brings up a blurry frame of the video. Now he holds it up long enough for a good look. It shows the rough silhouette of the Winter Soldier with four full limbs, blurry from the shot in motion.

“Now I couldn't care less where the arm went, but I feel like it might be relevant for your doctors tomorrow,” Tony raises his eyebrows expectantly. “Since you didn’t mention anything about losing limbs to me or Pepper when we were here earlier, I figured you might not be willing to share your little secret to my medical staff tomorrow either. I would not think that keeping medically relevant secrets would be conducive to proper healthcare.” Tony drops onto the love seat with the tablet in his lap.

“Bucky doesn’t have to say anything he doesn’t want to, Tony,” Steve growls out.

Before Steve can start an argument over Bucky, the man in question raises a finger to stop Steve. “Actually, I was planning on telling the medical staff about that, but, since you’re paying for all of that, maybe you should know, too.”

Steve crosses his arms and huffs as he backs off from the conversation.

“I should know what? That you regrow limbs? That Hydra gave you a prosthetic that you didn’t keep?” Tony guesses.

_ V, you should show yourself before Tony talks our ears off. _

** _Can we trust Tony? Don’t want to scare anybody._ **

_ I can’t promise we won’t scare him, but he needs to know. He needs to know like Steve needed to. We can’t stay hidden forever. _

In the few seconds it takes the symbiote and their host to converse, Tony hasn’t even noticed Bucky’s far-off look of concentration. As usual, Venom slithers out of Bucky’s left side and slowly begins forming their left arm.

Tony jumps up, and the tablet cracks on the floor. “What is that?” Tony’s finger springs up to point at the viscous fluid spiraling into the shape of an arm at Bucky’s side. V’s head spirals out of Bucky’s back to face Tony around Bucky’s right shoulder. Tony’s finger moves to the forming head and white eyes.

As their sharp teeth arrange themselves, the symbiote snarls.

**We are Venom.**

“Holy shit, what is Venom? Does that mean it’s poisonous? What is it? How is it growing out of you? Is it inside you? Oh gosh, is it a parasite inside you?”

Tony’s rambling is interrupted by an intimidating growl. The deep, raspy sound actually shuts him up, his jaw snapping shut with an audible click.

“They’re not a parasite. They call themselves a symbiote, and they need Bucky to live in our atmosphere,” Steve answers easily.

“Wait, you knew about this thing? You don’t seem surprised at all to see the black goop coming out of your boyfriend there,” Tony throws his hands in Bucky’s general direction.

“Bucky is not my boyfriend.” Steve sputters and tries to hold a serious tone, while his face flushes.

Bucky interrupts Steve’s floundering, “I told Steve before we came here about Venom, so he’s had some time to adjust.”

“Is this… symbiote why you want medical care? Are you looking to remove it? Because I don’t think my staff is going to be qualified to figure that out.”

**No! Do not separate!**

Venom shouts and lounges toward Tony at his suggestion. Before V’s teeth can even snap shut, Tony has rolled over the back of the love seat.

“Whoa! Whoa, calm down! I won’t separate you two. It was just a suggestion. I don’t know what y’all need from my medical staff,” Tony peeks out from behind the love seat.

V continues growling as they back up to Bucky’s shoulder again, and Bucky answers Tony over the rumbling, “V thinks something is wrong. We have an extreme appetite, and V still isn’t getting enough of certain chemicals from my diet.”

Tony slowly rises from behind his shield of furniture, “You want nutritional advice? We actually don’t have a nutritional expert because Bruce started handling that.”

“Really? Bruce wanted to take care of that?” Steve looks surprised.

“Who is Bruce?” Bucky interjects with a hand wave.

“Bruce Banner is better known as the Hulk. A big green guy. While the Hulk can be a little much to handle, Bruce is a sweet guy,” Steve explains.

“Yeah, Bruce says he finds the efficiency calculations and nutritional tailoring calming. I guess it would be more calming than radiation testing,” Tony shrugs and climbs back over the love seat. “And it might be better to meet Bruce first before we throw this on my virgin medical team. They are expecting more… human patients,” Tony says while eyeing Venom.

**Need only one person?**

“Probably. Bruce can do some basic imaging so that we know what we’re working with, but nutritional advice usually only needs blood work to determine the missing stuff. I don’t know if that will work with tall, dark, and handsome, so that’s what the imaging is for. I’ll call Bruce in and make sure he agrees.”

When V turns over to Bucky, he’s expecting further questions about the medical stuff, but V has other concerns.

**Handsome?**

Bucky barks out a laugh, “Yeah, buddy. Tony called you handsome.” 

V turns back to Tony with a devilish smile.

**Like this human now.**

As V starts to stretch their head over to Tony, he swipes up the broken tablet and begins slowly backing out of the living room.

“Sorry, that was not an invitation to get closer to me. I think I can head out now. Sorry about coming back unannounced. Can’t promise it won’t happen again, but I’ll try my best,” Tony swiftly turns about and speed walks out of the apartment as V trails after him. When the elevator doors close, V slides back over to Bucky with a bit of a sulk.

“Well, that was quite some excitement today. I think I’ll finish whatever reading I want in my bed tonight. See you in the morning, Steve,” Bucky stretches up and walks down the hallway with Venom floating easily behind him.

“Good night, Bucky,” Steve calls. “And good night, Venom,” he adds as an afterthought.

“Good night, Steve.”


	22. Chapter Twenty-One

Bucky shuts the door behind him and undresses for bed. Venom slides over his body unselfconsciously in the privacy of their bedroom. Since Venom has been free to reveal themself in Steve’s presence, they have adopted a self-soothing technique of checking over Bucky’s body often. Usually, Bucky doesn’t mind, finding the touch comforting as well, and Steve rarely notices Venom’s movements under the clothes Bucky wears during the day.

“Ready to talk about your purring, V?” Bucky asks as he throws on some soft pajama pants. He leaves off the matching shirt because Venom has ripped one before from their movements in the night.

**What is to talk about? Steve’s touch feels nice. Purr when things feel nice.**

Bucky winces at Venom’s low, growling voice filling the room.

_ Maybe we should have this conversation in our heads. Since you don’t have an indoor voice. _

Venom audibly huffs, but they do keep their words and thoughts inside Bucky’s head after the little complaint.

** _Don’t understand. Was purring bad?_ **

_ No, purring wasn’t bad. Just weird. Humans don’t usually purr. _

** _Even because of nice feelings?_ **

_ Um, yeah. Humans make different noises because of nice feelings. _

Bucky answers with his first thoughts, and he crosses the hallway to the luxurious bathroom. Venom is quietly mulling over Bucky’s words while Bucky prepares a toothbrush.

** _What noises to humans make from nice feelings?_ **

Bucky almost swallows his mouthful of toothpaste at the suggestive question. Venom grows frustrated with Bucky’s racing emotions and embarrassment because they always expect a simple answer to their simple questions. Instead, they often get sputtering and strange wording to puzzle out from their human. Even though he responds in his head, Bucky spits out the toothpaste before replying to Venom.

_ Not purring. That’s all you need to know about nice feelings. _

V drops the conversation after feeling Bucky’s nervousness and embarrassment over what the in-depth answer could involve. Venom doesn’t have the energy to deal with their host’s unwarranted embarrassment.

** _Must stop purring?_ **

_ I don’t know. Steve didn’t react badly to it. I just find it weird. Okay, fine, you can purr around Steve only. I think we should keep a badass image around everyone else. _

** _Purring not badass?_ **

Bucky chuckles while the pair move back to their bedroom.

_ No, I would not call purring badass. It makes you seem like a little cat instead of the bulky black monster you are. _

Bucky brings up an image of a black cat, slinking behind a yarn ball. Venom considers the beast for a moment before deciding the cat is too small to be intimidating.

** _Bucky is right. We are big and scary. Not like soft animal._ **

Bucky shuts his door again and settles under the thick blankets of his bed. Both Venom and he dislike the cold, so their bed has several thick and soft quilts over it.

_ True, I think we are big and strong, too. Besides the purring, what was that weird warm feeling you had? It was very distracting. _

** _Nice feelings. Steve makes nice feelings._ **

_ I get that, but why? He was just petting you. I thought you would find petting condescending or something. _

** _Condescending?_ ** Venom seems puzzled by the word and the strange connotations surrounding it in Bucky’s brain.

_ Condescending like he was treating you as less than a human. Petting is usually for pets, soft animals. _

Bucky reforms the image of the black cat, but he adds a generic human that is stroking the animal. V considers the image before morphing it and showing Bucky their thoughts about petting. The human changes into Bucky, and the black color of the cat spreads out to an approximation of V’s tendrils whenever they wrap and twist around Bucky’s body.

** _We pet you, and you do not feel lesser. We like touch. Reminder that we are always together._ **

The image shifts to Steve’s body and Venom wrapping around him instead. Bucky reacts wearily to the forming image, but Venom’s thoughts remain simple and comforting, just as they are when soothing Bucky.

** _Steve is the same. A reminder when we are together. His touch soothes Bucky the same. His touch shows acceptance. We feel accepted by touch._ **

Venom ends their explanation by forming an image of Steve’s petting early that day. Venom emphasizes Steve’s friendly approach and his obvious ease with Venom. Bucky feels the resurgence of Venom’s warm feelings again, but he suspects they are his own feelings as well.

_ Steve really does accept both of us now. _


	23. Chapter Twenty-Two

“Hi, I’m Bruce Banner,” a smaller man with tousled hair and a bit of scruff greets Bucky in the hallway of the medical suite.

“Hello, you can call me Bucky. It’s nice to meet another one of Steve’s friends,” Bucky smiles warmly to hide some of his nervousness. He’s glad the medical suite has soft beige carpeting and barely resembles a medical setting. He decided to seek medical help of his own volition, but it doesn't take away all the old associations.

“Would you like to start in a consulting room? I figured you’d want to avoid all the testing as long as possible. No one with the Avengers’ history really enjoys the doctor’s office,” Bruce leads Bucky down the hallway and opens a plain wood door to a room with two padded seats and a coffee table. The plants in the corners made it appear more like a psychiatrist’s office, but at least it doesn’t have sterile white flooring.

“Sure, have you spoken with Tony since he called you to come in?” Bucky sits and relaxes into the chair, trying to calm his nerves. V is a quiet presence in his mind. They’re taking in Bruce and assessing the new environment for threats. 

“No, he only said it was an emergency. Are you not eating enough? I would suggest Steve’s protein shakes until you work up to a regular appetite.”

“That’s not really the issue. I’m eating plenty of calories, but I need certain chemicals. I don’t think I’ve been getting enough of those.”

“Well, if you have a varied diet, you should be getting all your vitamins and minerals from that.”

Bucky shakes his head, “It’s more complicated than that. I don’t need the standard vitamins now.”

“I don’t understand. The serum increases calorie and other nutrient requirements proportionally, so eating more should work,” Bruce’s brows furrow, and he sits closer to Bucky, preparing to explain what a serum-enhanced body usually needs.

Before he can start, Bucky waves his hands and interrupts, “I think I should just show you. I’m not exactly eating only for a serum-enhanced body. Before I show you, all I can say is that they're not dangerous.”

Bruce looks more confused and prepares to ask more questions before he notices the black tentacles moving over Bucky’s shoulders. Bruce sits back in the chair in surprise. As Venom moves and forms out of Bucky’s body, Bruce’s eyebrows rise higher and higher. After Venom’s tentacles move over Bucky’s shoulders and slide down his chest, they leave the solid black arm at his left. The tentacles disappear before his waist, but Venom reforms their head quickly from Bucky’s left flank. The symbiote doesn’t move too close to Bruce but instead moves over Bucky’s right shoulder to hover just above his ear.

Bucky sweeps a hand in front of Venom’s head and neck, “This is Venom. They are an alien symbiote that Hydra forced me to bond with. They were also a prisoner of Hydra, and, now that I’ve spent so much time with them and defeated our captures with them at my side, I willingly let Venom share my body in order to live.”

Bruce makes to say something, but his mouth just hangs open for a few seconds. Venom remains quiet and watches the scientist cautiously. Bruce inhales sharply and tries to speak again.

“It’s an alien?”

“Yes.”

“Is it intelligent, or does it only make you stronger and regrow limbs?”

**We are intelligent. We are smarter than humans.**

Bruce jumps at Venom’s booming voice but immediately takes some slow breaths. His eyes had closed during Venom’s comment, and he peeks them open again.

“So it can talk.”

“Yes, and they can share their emotions with me. I can’t confirm if they are smarter than humans, but Venom seems to understand a lot of what I think and say.”

“Do you think they’re the source of the nutrition problem?”

**We need more chemicals than host produces. We can damage the host when we take too much.**

Bruce flinches at V’s voice again but doesn’t jump in surprise this time.

“Okay, then we really need to do blood work and imaging. I have no idea how an alien would change your biochemistry. They may be influencing your hormone production already to produce more of the missing chemicals. We need to know what damage has already happened.”

Bucky nods, “Okay, I understand. The lack of certain chemicals makes V incoherent with hunger sometimes. They have only injured me when they can’t control themselves, and they heal me right away. I have never noticed the damage, so I don’t even know what it could be.”

“Venom’s strength may be masking any side effects. We’ll have to head to the lab sooner than I anticipated,” Bruce says apologetically while moving to the door.

The group moves down the hallway into a more familiar doctor's room. Even though the purpose of the room is still obvious, Bucky notes the attempts to cheer up the space. The examination table is a much softer plastic than usual, and a linoleum pattern of gray, white, and black striping makes the room feel less sterile. Bruce opens a couple drawers at a desk while Bucky settles on the table. Venom remains outside his body, weaving slowly around the room to examine everything. When Bruce turns around with a needle and tubes for blood samples, he almost runs into Venom, who has been hovering over his shoulder after finishing their look over of the room.

Bruce gives out a little noise of surprise before Venom sheepishly retreats to Bucky's shoulder.

**Sorry. Did not want to scare.**

“It's all right, Venom. I would prefer you to stay a good distance from me, though. I'm not sure how the Hulk will react to a symbiote in contact with my skin.”

**Who is Hulk?** V moves to Bucky's left side when Bruce approaches their host's flesh arm.

“The Hulk is my alter ego. He was created when I performed experiments on myself with radiation in an attempt to recreate the super soldier serum,” Bruce drags over a small rolling tray and places the tubes on it. “When I am angry or threatened, the Hulk comes out to protect me, but the Hulk is not always very smart. He can cause a lot of damage. I prefer only to bring him out for emergencies. He looks like me but very muscular and with green skin.”

Venom's curiosity seeps through their bond with Bucky.

** _Want to meet Hulk. Sounds fun._ **

Bucky stifles a chuckle.

_ Of course, you think one of the most dangerous things in the room would be fun. _

“I am going to take some blood samples now. You should only feel a pinch,” Bruce slowly approached with the needle, but he quickly fills the tubes after he finds a vein. Bucky feels Venom’s discomfort at the foreign invasion, but neither Bucky nor V react poorly to the quick procedure. 

“All done,” Bruce sets the now full tubes on the tray. “After testing, I will destroy any sample material left, and Jarvis will encrypt the information I gather. As a security measure, Jarvis also destroys all data after two years, so eventually you’ll have to come in again.”

“That’s all we have to do today?” Bucky watches Bruce move the tray over to the table and label the samples.

“No, we still have to do imaging. We’re going to the MRI after I finish preparing the samples. The MRI uses magnetic fields to show us the inside of your body. This should show us if there’s any lasting damage from Venom.”

They leave the doctor’s room and go to a glass encased room with a large white cylinder on its side.

“Is that the MRI?” Bucky points at the large cylinder.

“Yes, you will have to lay on the platform, which will slide into the cylinder. It can be a bit claustrophobic, but the machine only needs a few minutes to create an image. I’ll try to be as fast as possible.”

“Okay,” Bucky replies before sitting down on the platform. When he realizes he balanced himself with Venom’s black arm, he turns back to Bruce, “Should Venom be outside my body for this test?”

“Perhaps we should start with them under your skin? Whichever way they usually reside in your body.”

At Bruce’s words, Venom retracts the arm and disappears under Bucky’s skin. Bucky just catches Bruce going into a small glass room with a couple monitors before he hears Bruce through a speaker somewhere in the room.

“Ready?”

** _Ready._ **

“We’re ready, Bruce.”

The platform slides with a soft whir into the confining tube. Bucky barely has time to adjust to the tight quarters before the sound of the MRI causes a splitting headache. Bucky throws his hand around his head, bumping his elbows into the sides of the cylinder, and vaguely registers he is screaming. Every cell in his body feels ripped apart by the noise, and he hears Venom’s deeper, growling screams mix with his own. The agony lasts another few seconds, or hours, Bucky has no idea how long he’s been screaming. As soon as the noise stops, Bucky slumps, exhausted, against the platform. He shakes weakly on his back as the platform is rolled out quickly.

“Bucky? Bucky, can you hear me? Jarvis, bring Steve here.”

Bucky thinks he hears Jarvis’s confirmation before a light shines into his eyes. He blinks and tries to bring up his arm.

_ Venom? Venom, are you all right? _ He calls into his suspiciously quiet head as soon as he has the strength. 

He feels so weak and light-headed. As he lies on the MRI's table and breathes shallowly, Bucky hears Bruce give a shout in surprise. When he glances down his body to see the cause, he finds a mass of black slime crawling from one side of the platform towards his body. As soon as the slime comes in contact with the bit of skin showing at his waist, the slime vanishes.

_ V, what happened? Are you all right? _

** _Bad noise. Loud noises separate. Take us from host. Did not realize machine made noise._ **

Bucky groans and tosses his head on the platform.

“Bucky, are you all right? I have no idea what happened. I stopped the MRI as fast as I could,” Bruce explains while supporting Bucky’s back when he moves to sit up.

“Venom says the sound of the MRI hurt us. The noise made us separate.”

“Really? Oh my gosh, I had no idea. Are you feeling better now? Venom came back to you, right? They were the slime on the platform,” Bruce looks increasingly frantic.

“Yes, I think we’re fine now,” Bucky takes stock of his body and finds no lingering effects of the surprise. The headache disappeared when the noise did, and he no longer feels ridiculously tired.

“Okay, I managed to get a partial image before the MRI shut down, so this wasn’t all for nothing. If we need any more information, we will only do forms of imaging that won’t harm Venom,” Bruce says as he strides quickly into the smaller glass room with monitors. The doors to the MRI room fly open when Steve pushes in.

“Bucky! Are you all right? Why did Bruce call me down here?” Steve races over to look at Bucky, his hand hovering just above his arm.

Bucky brings his hand up to clasp Steve’s forearm before he answers, “I’m fine now, but the MRI separated Venom from me. The noise was terrible.”

“Is Venom all right?”

_ How are you doing, buddy? _

** _Tired, but better with host now._ **

“I think V is good. They feel weak, but they said it’s better with me now.”

Bucky and Steve look over as Bruce returns to the main room with a few printouts in hand. Even though he’s walking up to the two men at the MRI, he doesn’t take his eyes off the papers.

“Bucky, how are you feeling?”

“Fine. Much better than when Venom was separated,” Bucky replies with a shrug.

“And how did you feel when Venom was separated?” Bruce looks up with a forehead wrinkled with worry.

“I felt really tired and weak. Why are you asking?” Bucky shifts on the platform to face Bruce better.

“Because the MRI’s images suggest you should have heart failure, if not other issues. Many of your major organs are partially degraded.”


	24. Chapter Twenty-Three

Bucky stares at Bruce for several long seconds.

“What?” he breathes in disbelief. “V, have you been destroying my organs?” he asks the open air, knowing that Venom is listening. V’s head quickly forms and turns to Bucky with a guilt-ridden look.

**Never on purpose. Never want to hurt host. But so hungry sometimes.**

Then Bucky just stares at V’s visage for a few seconds. After absorbing this information, Bucky sighs heavily and closes his eyes.

“Is it permanent?”

Bruce watches Bucky’s sullen face for a moment before realizing Bruce seems to realize he might be the best one to answer. “Since Venom hasn’t been able to heal the damage so far, I fear it is. We can stop further damage by adjusting your diet, but I don’t think your body can survive without Venom. Their abilities mask the damage and support your heart's function.”

Bucky unclasps Steve’s forearm but moves to squeezing his hand instead of completely letting go. Steve squeezes back briefly and watches on in quiet distress.

“Let’s…” Bucky’s breath stutters, “Let’s focus on stopping further damage then.”

“I will finish testing the blood samples you gave me. Maybe Venom can answer a few questions that may help me determine what they need,” Bruce is hesitant to speak to Venom directly, but, since their head is visible, it seems easier than talking through Bucky.

**Help host. Help in any way.** Venom’s normally booming voice is raspy and quiet as they turn their attention to Bruce.

“Okay, Venom. When did the intense hunger start? Did it begin when Hydra put you on a mostly liquid diet?”

**No. Hungry always. But Hydra always feed us too little. Bucky was happy with any food. Did not want to make Bucky feel worse. Stopped complaining when Bucky was so grateful for so little.**

Venom drags up some of their first memories of Bucky after Hydra had forced them together. Bucky remembers his feelings of relief when Hydra gave them regular meals. His old feelings are filtered through Venom’s guilt now. Venom tried to let Bucky have a small victory during their captivity, and they hid their insatiable hunger.

Bucky finally drops Steve’s hand and stands up. Both Bruce and Steve move to support Bucky, but the help isn’t necessary. Bucky finally opens his eyes to look at Bruce.

“Call me when you’re done with the blood tests. I think I’m done for the day.” Bucky walks out unimpeded after his declaration. V vanishes silently into his body as they move out.

Bruce and Steve follow Bucky as he leaves and make no move to stop him. They let the Bucky take an elevator alone back to his shared suite.


	25. Chapter Twenty-Four

“Bucky, can I come in?” Steve’s voice calls through the door.

Bucky stares blankly at the ceiling for a few seconds. He doesn’t really feel up to working through today’s events with another person, especially since his recent revelations with Venom. Before he can tell Steve to leave them alone for a bit, Venom sulks and pushes against Bucky’s decision.

** _Want to see Steve. _ ** The simple request is accompanied by Venom’s exhaustion from the day and desire for some comfort.

Although Bucky is not sure why Venom wants Steve’s presence so badly, he decides that Steve at least won’t worsen their current condition.

“Yeah, sure. Come in,” Bucky sits up against the headboard of his bed and watches Steve slowly peek around the door. After catching sight of Bucky on the bed, Steve comes in, closing the door behind him, and pulls out Bucky’s desk chair to sit.

“Are you two all right? You seemed pretty upset about V’s damage before you left the medical suite. Bruce is still doing some testing, but he said it shouldn’t take more than a day with Tony’s equipment,” Steve updates them with his characteristic worried frown.

“We’re doing better now. We had a nice little chat,” Bucky can’t hide the edge in his voice, and Steve is certainly perceptive enough to catch it.

“You look less upset, but I have to say you sound angry. If you don’t mind me prying, what did you and V discuss?” Steve leans closer to the bed from his seat on the desk chair.

“I’m only angry because V has been hiding things from me. You would think since we share my fucking body, we would have fewer communication problems.”

“If I had to share a body with someone all the time, I might value the few secrets I have. I’m sure V didn’t mean to cause any harm.”

**True. Never want to harm host. Always an accident.**

V’s head appears from around Bucky’s shoulder, and Steve doesn’t seem bothered in the slightest by the symbiote’s sudden appearance and growling voice.

Bucky exhales loudly before admitting, “I guess it’s not healthy to share everything either. We can have our few secrets, but Venom definitely needs an outside perspective sometimes to decide if their secrets are too important to hide.”

“Like me?” Steve suggests sheepishly. Steve looks down at his folded hands when Bucky glances over at him.

“Are you sure you want to deal with us? We don’t exactly have standard relationship problems.”

Steve blushes a bit at Bucky’s description of his bond with V but nods resolutely, “Absolutely. You have been through so much, Buck, both of you. The least I could do is be there for you.”

“Till the end of the line?” Bucky remembers their old promise at this moment.

“Yeah, yes. Till the end of the line. I didn’t know if you remembered that,” Steve is practically falling off the chair as he sits on the edge, as close as possible to the bed.

“Like I said, Venom restored most of my memories when they healed me. There’s a lot of them, so sometimes they get muddled together. Most of my memories are a big inaccessible mess of the past, but my memories of you got a lot of use.”

Steve tilts his head quizzically, “What do you mean?”

“Whenever we had a second to ourselves, and when my brain wasn’t an electrocuted mess, I would share some memories of you and me with Venom. Those times usually took our mind off Hydra. We could spend a few minutes back in the 30s.”

Steve smiles softly, “I didn’t have to deal with such a horrible experience right out of the ice, but I also treasured those memories then. It had only been a few weeks since your ‘death,’ and I had to lead the Avengers pretty much straight out of the gate.” Steve brings a hand up to rub the back of his neck. “It’s not the same, but it’s kind of nice to think of both of us remembering our ratty apartment in Brooklyn when we were in a bad spot.”

Bucky and Steve smile softly at each other before Steve startles at the slick feeling of slime over his other arm. He drops the hand behind his neck and watches the black tendrils wrap and twist over his forearm.

“What are you doing, V?” Steve’s brow furrows in confusion as the slime fades in and out of his skin.

** _Want to share._ **

“Whoa, is that how V sounds in your head?” Steve looks to Bucky, a bit slack-jawed.

“Yep, pretty weird, huh?” Bucky responds before turning his attention to the handsy symbiote.

_ What are you doing, V? What do you want to share? _

** _Want to share the good memories._ **

_ Steve already has those memories, bud. No need to share. _

“I have my version of the memories, Buck. I think V wants to share how you guys saw the good stuff. Maybe you two focused on something different in the past,” Steve shrugs noncommittally while Bucky whips his head up to scrutinize Steve’s face.

_ You can hear me? _

“Of course, I can hear you. You’re talking…” Steve’s words fade as he notices that Bucky’s mouth didn’t move when he asked that question.

_ Yeah, I’m not talking. _

_ Is Venom connecting our minds?  _ Steve’s inner voice is soft and weak, since he has less practice directing words out of his head. Bucky also notes that it's not as deep as his physical voice, resembling his softer tones from before the serum.

** _Sharing needs connection._ **

_ But you’re not connecting more than our voices, right? No offense, Steve, but I don’t want you running into any of my less savory memories in here. _

_ No offense taken. I don’t want to snoop around your mind anyway. _ The inky slime on Steve’s arm has reached past his bicep as Venom continues to roam up his arm.

** _Connection does not mean everything. Can only share memories one at a time. Not all thoughts._ **

_ That’s a relief. _ Bucky comments as Venom starts pulling up the well-worn memories of little Steve in Brooklyn. They picked a favorite of theirs to share.

Steve is sketching on the couch, while Bucky is stirring some measly meal in a pot. They never focused on what conversation was happening in the memory, so that part is muffled and piecemeal in the little clip Venom provides. They always focused more on the aura of contentment and simple happiness in this memory. V found the memory fascinating because their captivity in Hydra never featured such simplicity. Whatever happiness they found while trapped in Hydra’s clutches was so short-lived that Venom had no idea how simply happy life could be with a stable job and a good night in, as the memory recounts.

When Bucky brings his attention out of the memory, he notices a few tears falling from Steve’s face. Immediately, Bucky moves to the edge of the bed and takes Steve’s slime-wrapped hand. Venom adjusts just as quickly and retracts the tentacles of slime out of the way. Now Bucky’s hand and loose lines of slime connect the two humans.

“Steve. Steve, are you okay? Why are you crying? That was supposed to be a happy memory,” Bucky lapses into spoken words.

“Yeah, I’m fine, Buck. These are tears of happiness, I swear,” Steve wipes his eyes with his other hand. “I remember that day. I finally got some good pencils to try out.”

Venom slowly withdraws from Steve. He watches the slime silently move out of his skin and looks back up when Bucky takes his hand away with the last of the tendrils. He sighs heavily and cleans up his face with a few more swipes.

“Thank you for that, V. It was nice to be reminded of some of our old life. It was a little strange to feel someone else’s emotions in that memory, but it was interesting. V definitely cherishes that memory. I could feel it.”

Bucky nods good-natured, “Interesting is one way to call it.”

Both super-soldiers laugh, a little wetly, at the understatement.

“Do you want to have dinner or only a shake tonight? I don’t know how you’re feeling, but I could sleep for a couple of days after what happened today,” Steve straightens in his chair, backing away from the bed a bit.

“I can make a shake later, but I think I would really like a nap now. Thanks… thanks for everything, Steve.”

Steve’s face reddens from the overt gratitude, but he stands and returns the chair to its desk instead of commenting on it.

“Okay, Bucky. Good night. I hope Bruce will have some answers for us tomorrow.”

“Me, too. Goodnight, Steve.”

Bucky settles back into the middle of his bed as Steve closes the door behind himself. Even though he is truly exhausted by all the excitement of the day, Bucky closes his eyes and feels Venom roiling in his mind, making it difficult to relax. Eventually, Bucky relaxes enough to sleep, but he thinks Venom will be up all night.


	26. Chapter Twenty-Five

“I have good news and bad news,” Bruce says when he walks into the consulting room with a folder of papers in hand.

“Okay, start with the good news, please,” Bucky says from his chair.

“I know what Venom needs to reduce the cravings and stop the damage to your body.”

“Great! But there’s a catch?”

“Yes, Venom has been absorbing and using several key neurotransmitters from your body. Neurotransmitters can function outside the brain as normal hormones, and most of the ones Venom needs work both inside and outside the brain,” Bruce sits in the chair across from Bucky. “Your body has been ramping up production of the neurotransmitters to compensate for Venom’s appetite, but a few neurotransmitters are only produced by neurons. Those hormones are difficult to produce in excess and also to produce artificially,” he gestures conservatively while talking. “I have already begun trying to formulate a supplement of some kind, but it may be awhile. I have a recommendation to fix the issue while I finish making the supplement, but it’s another piece of bad news,” Bruce pauses with his fingers rubbing into his forehead, as if the findings are giving him a headache.

“I have to eat raw meat, don’t I? The fresher the better?” Bucky’s mouth twists up.

Bruce drops his hand and sits forward, “How did you know?”

“Venom revealed to me that their intense hunger would abate when they ate some very fresh meals,” Bucky turns away from Bruce’s eye contact, but Bruce doesn’t press for details.

“Okay, the meat would have to be very fresh to stop the cravings. Certain neurotransmitters they need degrade within hours, even in the blood,” Bruce comments offhandedly. He doesn’t notice Bucky’s discomfort in his silence.

“I suggested we hunt, go into the woods or something,” Bucky mentions to steer Bruce away from the past.

“That’s a good idea. My idea was to bring in live animals, but I don’t think Tony would appreciate that,” Bruce is starting to look uncomfortable as well.

“Um, okay. If you don’t have a better suggestion, we can hunt until you finish the supplement.”

“I’m afraid that's the best option for now. The necessary neurotransmitters have never been produced artificially. If your body wasn’t already over-producing them, I’d prescribe medication similar to the ones for the treatment of depression, which would make the chemicals more available to Venom. I don’t know how that would affect your brain chemistry at all, so our best course of action is finding a supplement. Until that’s ready,” Bruce shrugs, "you have to eat fresh meat or fresh blood.”

“Okay, I expected this after my talk with Venom. Still doesn’t sound fun to me,” Bucky looks to the floor.

** _Can be fun. We can be strong. Show true power._ **

Bucky winces at Venom’s excitement for hunting.

_ At least one of us will be enjoying our “treatment.” _

“Thank you, Bruce. I hope you can figure out the supplement soon,” Bucky stands and offers his hand.

As they shake hands in a formal goodbye, Bruce adds, “At least I don’t have to figure out how to get the supplements past the blood-brain barrier. Venom can take up the chemicals from anywhere in your body. That actually makes it simpler,” Bruce walks Bucky to the door and holds it open for him, “I think it should take me a month or so, baring Avengers’ incidents. You won’t have to be hunting for long.”

“Good, talk to you later, Bruce.” Bucky walks towards the elevators, while Bruce heads back into the lab.

_ At least this visit didn’t end in blood-curdling screams. _

** _When can we start hunting?_ **

Bucky sighs, exasperated with Venom’s enthusiasm, as the elevator doors close.


	27. Chapter Twenty-Six

_ Okay, Venom. Finish up quick. Steve is coming back from a mission tonight, and we don’t want to be out too late. _

Bucky, wrapped in the strength of Venom, is running across the side of an apartment building. Even though the bulk and wet texture of Venom makes it seem like their body should be noisy, they are silent and practically invisible in the shadows of the city. Venom’s excitement to see Steve comes through their bond, even though Venom is also disappointed that their hunting will be cut short.

_ Find some rats or something, so we can get this over with. _

Bucky feels Venom’s exasperation with having to eat the filthy vermin tonight instead of going out of the city to find a deer or larger beast. Before they can chat further, they hear a scream in a nearby alley.

_ What’s that? _

Venom focuses their enhanced senses a few streets away and starts climbing in that direction.

“Help! Someone help me!”

“Stuff it! No one can hear you. I made sure of it.”

A black shadow slides around the side of the building, following the sounds of stifled sobbing. When Bucky sees the scene in the dark alleyway, fury burns through him.

_ Venom. _

The symbiote turns their attention to their host expectantly.

_ We found something to eat. _

A vicious smile breaks out across Venom’s face.

** _Eat good tonight._ **

* * *

Bucky and Venom return to the tower just before Steve comes through the elevator. Steve smiles warmly at Bucky as he takes off the cowl. He grimaces at the grime and dirt on his body and greets Bucky while moving towards the hallway, “Hi, Bucky. It’s great to see you. I’m going to wash up, and then we can have dinner. Sound good?” Steve walks backwards for a few steps to catch Bucky’s response.

“Yeah, sounds good. We’ll be waiting out here,” Bucky replies from the couch.

_ I feel like we need a shower tonight, too. _

** _Did good. Stopped bad guy._ **

_ I’m still not that excited to be a cannibal. _

** _Need to eat fresh bodies. Makes sense to take out the bad bodies. Multitasking._ **

Bucky snickers at Venom’s morbid justification but decides to take this development in stride, especially since he doesn’t feel guilty about wiping that scum from the earth. When Bucky hears the water in the shower run, he gets up to start dinner.

_ Something simple and fast tonight, since we didn’t have time to start dinner before Steve got here. _

** _Grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup._ **

_ I like your thinking, bud. _

Bucky and Venom work seamlessly in the kitchen. Venom provides extra limbs to get out the bread while Bucky gets cheese out of the fridge. They toast the bread in the pan to make it crispy before adding the cheese to melt. Venom opens a couple cans of tomato soup for another pot on the stove, and Bucky flips the burner on to start heating it. Soon they have a neat platter of sandwiches. They spoon out servings of the steaming soup into smaller bowls as Steve walks into the kitchen area in sweatpants and a comfy shirt.

“Thanks, Buck. Smells great,” Steve comments while grabbing a plate and a bowl. He moves to the dining table, and Bucky follows and sits across from him.

“How did the mission go?”

“Good, but I’ll have to go out again soon. Every mission is digging up more targets, so I don’t know when I’ll be getting a break next,” Steve says apologetically in between spoonfuls of soup.

“Do you need help from us?” Bucky offers casually. 

Steve sets down the sandwich he was about to bite into.  “I can’t ask you to do that, Buck. After Hydra, you should be done. I don’t want to force you out of retirement or anything.”

Bucky is shaking his head before Steve finishes, “You wouldn’t be forcing me. Venom and I know we’re valuable in a fight. I don’t think Venom could even handle complete retirement. They get so antsy and bored when we’re trapped in the tower too long, and you know that.”

“Yes, I know about Venom, but what do you want, Bucky? Since you finished your revenge tour, you don’t seem interested in fighting as much. As strong as your bond with Venom is, you can still make decisions about  _ your _ life, Bucky,” Steve holds eye contact for a few more seconds after his speech before returning to the rapidly diminishing tower of sandwiches on his plate.

Bucky takes Steve’s comments seriously and ruminates on his response for a few moments.

“Okay, I don’t need to decide right now. I know so little about your current mission that I’d probably take too long to catch up anyway. I do want to be there for the Avengers, and for you, Steve. Although I am tired of fighting, of hurting people, I’m also trapped with a creature that needs fresh meat to live. I don’t have the luxury of choice right now, and we’d rather be pointed in the right direction than involve innocents on accident.”

“You make us sound like Hydra, Bucky. You’re not a weapon to be pointed in a direction. You and Venom can make your own choices. You decided to hunt animals instead of hurting innocent people for your… dietary needs,” Steve stumbles over the wording a bit, but his meaning is clear. “If you decide never to fight again, I believe everyone on the Avengers would defend your choice, and I believe Venom would understand. They share your mind, Bucky! They can see why you would want to rest.”

** _Never want to hurt host. Never what to force host to do anything. We follow wherever host goes._ **

Bucky inhales unsteadily but makes no further argument to Steve. They finish their meal in silence. Steve grabs Bucky’s dishes before he gets up from the table and says, “I got dish duty tonight.”

Bucky nods his thanks and picks up his book from the counter top. However, he’s not planning on reading in the living room tonight. He takes his book and his roiling thoughts down the hallway.


	28. Chapter Twenty-Seven

Before Bucky closes his bedroom door, he can already feel Venom’s complaint.

** _Should be with Steve. Haven’t seen Steve in a long time._ **

_ Not tonight, bud. I don’t want to talk with Steve anymore tonight. _

** _Lying._ **

Bucky pauses at Venom’s accusation.

_ What? I’m not lying. _

** _Host want to see Steve just as much as Venom does._ **

_ Okay, maybe I’ve missed Steve recently, but we’re not attached at the hip, V. _

Bucky frowns while getting into his desk chair. He was hoping to read quietly for the rest of the night, but it looks like he will be explaining human behavior to Venom again.

** _But we barely see Steve now. Steve always away._ **

_ Yeah, on missions, V. He has a job to do. _

** _Job take Steve away from us. Job is bad._ **

_ Steve’s job is very important. He’s protecting people and saving lives. We can’t keep Steve from doing his job just because we want him around more. _

** _Why not?_ **

_ Because that’s the way it is! _

Bucky huffs in annoyance at Venom’s lack of understanding. He tries to shove away the conversation, so he can read his book. Nevertheless, Venom continues to grumble about Steve’s recent absences.

** _Steve should want to stay with us._ **

_ We can’t control other people, V. Steve can do what he wants. _

** _Then why doesn’t Steve stay with us? He wants to. We saw it when we connected. He wants to be with us. He should be with us. He should not want to leave us. He is Yours._ **

_ How did you see that? I didn’t notice. _

Venom fumbles a bit to bring up the memories. When Venom had shared the old memories of Steve and Bucky, they noticed how Steve hung onto the memory, too. Steve cherished his time with Bucky in the same way.

_ Yeah, but this doesn’t show he wants to be with us. Not… not in the way I want us to be. _

Bucky’s thoughts skip over his desires. He has buried these thoughts of Steve for so long that he’s automatically pushes them away as V tries to convince him.

** _No, it is the same. We saw. Steve should be with us. Why is he not always?_ **

_ Because I never told him. _

Bucky’s body surges out of his chair. Venom dragged their body up in surprise.

**What? ** Venom’s shock reverberates through the room with his voice.

** _Humans are so dumb. Their communication is very inferior. Steve does not know because humans need ridiculous noises to see the obvious!_ **

Bucky witnesses Venom’s racing mind with astonishment. Venom has taken over his body to pace the floor in annoyance.

** _We must tell Steve immediately._ ** Venom pulls to a stop at the decision.

Before they get to the door, Bucky wrests back control of his body.

_ No! Not right now. Steve is leaving for another mission soon. We can’t send him in the field distracted. _

Venom audibly growls but admits to the logic. They allow Bucky’s delay with a few comments.

** _Steve is not like us. He does not know what we are thinking. He must hear it._ **


	29. Chapter Twenty-Eight

Steve leaves early the next morning with an apology.

“Sorry, I have to leave again so soon. Based on the intel, this should be the last mission to take out the terrorist group.”

“It’s all right,” Bucky tries to say around Venom’s strangling. They are very upset that Steve is leaving and that he still doesn’t know about Bucky’s feelings.

“Are you okay, Buck? You sound like you’re coming down with a sore throat.”

Venom growls through Bucky’s mind while Steve gives a look of earnest worry.

** _How you not notice Steve want to stay? He never want to leave. Symbiotes truly smarter than humans. _ ** Venom punctuates their last thought with smugness.

_ Sure, sure, keep patting yourself on the back, bud. Can it, so we can give Steve a proper goodbye with our full attention. _

Venom interprets “proper goodbye” to mean a hug, so they pull Bucky around Steve. Venom’s black arm completes the embrace, and Steve stands in shock for a few seconds before returning the hug as enthusiastically as Venom.

“See you soon, Steve. Be careful,” Bucky says into Steve’s shoulder before untangling himself.

“Yeah, I will,” Steve watches Bucky with a quizzical look as he takes a few steps backwards to the elevator. He turns around to cover the last few feet to the doors but spins around again to look at Bucky one last time before the doors close. Bucky waves weakly, a bit embarrassed by Venom’s show of affection.

_ That did not look like a man who feels the same as I do, Venom. _ Bucky takes a seat on the couch, bringing his doubts along, too.

** _Just surprised. We hugged, but not something Bucky would do without intervention. Normally._ ** Venom’s voice has an edge to it, since they are annoyed at the necessity to intervene.

_ Okay, okay. I get it. Humans are stupid and never want any happiness in their lives. We need an alien parasite to get us to make good decisions for ourselves. _

** _We are not a parasite. _ ** Venom replies primly without contradicting any other statement of Bucky’s.

* * *

Bucky is sitting quietly on the couch reading, when he hears the elevator ding. It only dings when there is an unexpected arrival, and this one is definitely unexpected. Steve wasn’t supposed to return until tomorrow night. Bucky turns from the couch to see the doors open to his suite mate.

“Hi, Buck! Mission went much better than expected. Cleaned everything up really fast,” Steve waltzes in with his cowl under his arm and barely any grime on the suit.

“Hi, Steve. Great to have you back,” Bucky smiles at Steve for a few seconds before Venom pulls him off the couch and into Steve’s path towards the hall. Steve stops before running into Bucky and looks at him curiously. In Venom’s rush to get Bucky in the way, their book had toppled onto the floor. Bucky winces at Venom’s bluntness.

“What’s up? I was just going to put away the suit,” Steve comments.

**We have something to tell you.** Venom nudges Bucky’s body closer during his declaration, and their head floats ominously over Bucky’s right shoulder.

“Okay,” Steve pause for a few seconds. “What is it?” he prompts when Bucky just stares in silence.

Venom growls and sighs loudly before they intervene, again.

**Bucky not completely honest with you.**

Steve’s face falls, “Is something wrong?”

**No, nothing wrong with host. Something wrong with us. All of us. Steve doesn’t know. We like to be around Steve. Steve makes us happy, makes happy chemicals.**

Steve’s face crumples in confusion now, “Okay, I like being around you, too, Venom.”

**Not just Venom. Makes Bucky happy. When with Steve, makes everything… delicious?** Venom struggles with the right words, and Bucky runs his hand over his face in embarrassed frustration.

“V likes the way I taste? What? Bucky, I have no idea what they’re trying to say.”

“Yeah, Venom’s not that great at explaining,” Bucky huffs.

**Then you do it. Coward.** Venom snarls when they turn to face Bucky.

Bucky holds up his hands, “Okay, okay. What Venom is trying to say is that we like you, Steve. Well, I like you, Steve.” Bucky’s face reddens, and he rubs his hand on the back of his neck.

“Why didn't you just say that, you goofball? I understand humans just fine. It's symbiotes that I don't understand.”

**And. **

**Bucky must hear it, too.** Venom prompts with exasperation.

“Must hear what?” Steve asks with a second's pause before his eyes widen, and he throws a hand onto Bucky’s shoulder, “And I like you, too, Buck. I like both of you.”

“Really?” Bucky says shyly, looking up at Steve when he tilts his head down.

“Yeah, Buck. Of course, I do. I didn’t say anything because a lot has changed between us. I didn’t want to assume anything, and I wanted to give you time to adjust. You were avoiding me after Hydra, so I thought you might not feel the same.”

Bucky takes a step closer, and Steve’s hand falls to his waist, the other still holding his cowl.

“We’re both a couple of idiots.”

**Yes, you are.**

Bucky side-eyes Venom over his shoulder, but, before he can quip back, Steve tilts forward and kisses Bucky.

The couple kisses for a few seconds before they notice the ribbons of slime pulling them together. Venom is wrapping them together with thickening strands of goo.

“What are you doing, V?” Bucky separates from Steve to ask, but Steve moves to kissing Bucky’s neck without hesitation. When Steve mouths lightly at Bucky’s skin, Bucky groans into the air. Venom is constantly in motion between the two men, ribbons of black running along their arms and around their chests.

** _Tasting._ **

At Venom’s answer, Bucky feels a balloon of happiness swell in his mind. He catches his own thoughts: joy, relief, love, but he also feels marginally different emotions paired with his own. Venom is sharing Steve’s mind, as much as they can. Steve’s joy dances through Bucky’s mind and doubles his own happiness. Steve’s relief at Bucky’s reciprocation waltzes with Bucky’s relief. Steve and Bucky’s love hug one another, growing exponentially in their embrace.

With a groan, Steve takes his lips off of Bucky’s skin and hooks his chin over Bucky’s shoulder. “I see what you mean by Venom being overwhelming sometimes,” Steve says into the air behind Bucky.

** _Not Venom. Only you. Only Steve and Bucky._ **

Steve pulls his head back to tilt against Bucky’s forehead. “That’s all us? You feel the same?” Steve barely seems aware he was speaking. Amazement and awe flicker through the bond.

“Yeah, yes. I absolutely feel the same,” Bucky answers and surges back in for another kiss.


	30. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! The last chapter, the lovely epilogue! Thank you all for your patience and your beautiful comments. I had a great time writing this, and I'm glad I got to share it with all of you. I hope you like the ending😊

“Did you take your supplement yet?” Steve queries from his seat on the couch.

“Ah, shit. No, I almost forgot,” Bucky sets his book on the coffee table and goes to the cabinets in the kitchen. He pulls out a syringe and checks the needle and dosage. He quickly pulls one side of his loose sweatpants down to expose his hip and the muscle of his butt. After a barely-noticeable pinch, he throws the empty syringe into the neat biohazard bin that Bruce gave them.

“Feeling all right, V?” Bucky has started to talk out loud again, now that more people know about Venom. They can’t connect everyone in the room all the time for telepathy, and Steve always check-ins vocally before turning to the vague telepathy anyway.

**Yes, we are not hungry. **

Venom usually replies audibly as well, but they’ve stopped forming their head every time. Strangely, their voice is simply disembodied now, without Bucky’s lips moving at all. Bucky got used to it easily since it feels almost the same as hearing Venom’s disembodied voice in his head. Steve took a little more time, but he appreciates Venom keeping him in the loop regardless of the method.

“Have you noticed that V is more eloquent since you started the supplement? Or maybe even before that, when you were hunting” Steve muses as Bucky returns to the couch.

“How do you mean?”

“They speak in complete sentences all the time, and they don’t have any of the word challenges anymore,” Steve explains while he puts his own book on the coffee table.

“I guess you’re right. With the bond, I could always understand what they meant, even if the words were a little jumbled or simple.”

Steve nods in understanding.

**We are eating well now. We can speak easier without the distraction of hunger.**

“That’s good,” Steve says with a smile, “Has anything else changed?”

Bucky and Venom think for a few minutes, trying to remember anything significant.

“V, do you still stay up all night?”

**Yes, we must keep our host safe.**

“Well, that hasn’t changed since the supplements,” Bucky notes, disappointed.

Steve's forehead wrinkles in worry, “I thought you said you needed at least a little sleep, V? Ages ago, at the safehouse, you said symbiotes need sleep.”

**But, we must protect our host.**

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, bud, but I have plenty of protection. Steve is here most of the time now, and Jarvis is the security system for the whole tower,” Bucky starts to look concerned about this discovery as well.

**We are always worried about our host, about Bucky. We cannot sleep because of the worry.** Venom has manifested their head now, looking as anxious as they say they are.

“That doesn’t sound healthy,” Bucky says.

Steve agrees quickly, “No, it doesn’t.”

Bucky clasps his hands together and looks down at them in concentration. “Could you try to sleep tonight? Just to try it out. If you’re supposed to be sleeping, I want you to be as healthy as possible.”

V turns to Bucky with a concerned look, clearly ready to argue that staying awake is better.

Before they can start, Steve steps in, “I can stay with Bucky. If he doesn’t mind, that is. I get nightmares, but I can be right there for Bucky or you, V.”

“Steve, I get nightmares, too. Is that the whole reason we’re not sharing a bedroom right now?”

Embarrassed guilt reddens Steve’s face.

“Okay, now we’re not just sleeping together to help V tonight. You are coming to my bed because I have been deprived of your ridiculous body heat for too long. V will at least like the personal heater we get in bed tonight,” Bucky smirks.

Steve blushes harder but makes no move to argue.

* * *

Steve snuggles into Bucky’s neck as a beam of light filters in through a gap in the curtains. Bucky inhales deeply and pushes back into Steve’s embrace.

“Mornin’” Steve mumbles against his skin.

“Good morning,” Bucky pauses to stretch up slowly, so Steve can still hold on, “Good morning, V. Did you actually sleep like the rest of us?”

Black slime oozes from Bucky’s back and runs down Steve’s nearby arms. They wrap and run across their skin a few times to show they’re making the bond.

** _Yes, we slept very well. We only woke up when Steve got a glass of water._ **

Venom preemptively sends waves of indifference and forgiveness at Steve’s unwarranted apology. The words fall away in Steve’s mind before he can even form a sentence.

** _We do feel better. Sleep may be more important than previously thought._ **

_ Wow, the humans knew something a symbiote didn’t. Incredible. _ Bucky jokes.

Steve chuckles at V’s reluctant agreement sliding into the bond. Bucky pulls away from Steve’s embrace, a bit reluctantly, to sit at the end of the bed. Steve crawls out of the bed on the other side and starts walking to the door.

_ Ready for the morning meal? I can get the shot ready before we make breakfast.  _ Bucky asks.

** _We are not hungry. It is not necessary._ **

Bucky grabs Steve’s wrist as he passes the bed. Steve comes to a stop and looks quizzically down at Bucky. A few ribbons of blackness intertwine them in a few seconds.

_ V’s not hungry?  _ Bucky throws into the bond with hesitance.

_ Really?  _ Steve replies while sitting next to Bucky on the bed.

** _It is true. Is that weird?_ **

_ Yes, V. It’s weird. You’ve woken me up before asking for the supplement. You’re usually ravenous after 4 or 5 hours. _

** _Maybe the sleep has quelled my appetite._ **

Bucky scoffs in disbelief. 

_ You’re saying that we had Bruce create an artificial supplement to stick myself with, that I had to eat raw meat, that I had to eat raw human flesh, when all you needed was a good night’s rest? _

** _Probably?_ **

Bucky laughs out loud at this revelation. He turns to Steve and hugs him unexpectedly. Steve huffs lightly when Bucky squeezes him. Steve chuckles for a few moments before quickly pushing Bucky back to look him in the eyes.

While holding him by the shoulders, he asks incredulously, “You ate human flesh?”

Bucky keels over in laughter. This is going to be a long conversation.


End file.
